Say That Again?
by celaenos
Summary: Emily didn't have an abortion, she gave her daughter up for adoption. After coming back to the team from the dead, she is thinking about her kid a lot. Garcia decides to track the girl down for Emily without asking first.
1. Chapter 1

**So I love every interaction with Emily and kids, and her story in Demonology was great. I was thinking what if she actually had the kid? And gave it up for adoption? Everything that happened in the show (with the exception of Em not having the abortion and giving the kid up for adoption and telling Rossi) happened in this universe. I'm going with Em is back from the dead, Doyle thing etc. And has been for a while. For now, I'm being vague on how that worked out, once the show gets back we'll see how they use it. I am not very experienced with writing cases, and the only terminology and knowledge I have of how profiling, adoption, solving cases, murders etc. comes from tv and whatever I google. So if something is incorrect I apologize. Also, I will be talking about adoption, have never adopted anyone, don't know how it works, making it up as I go mostly. Hope you enjoy!**

_ "Children begin by loving their parents; _

_ after a time, they judge them; _

_ rarely, if ever, do they forgive them." _

_ - Oscar Wilde _

Emily Prentiss walked quickly into the BAU headquarters. She was late, yet again. Mornings had become difficult the last week or so, she was never sleeping, and it was getting harder and harder to wake up once she finally did manage to fall asleep. She hadn't even had time to sit down when Reid ran by her. "We have a case!" He yelled as he made his way to the conference room.

"Wonderful." Emily muttered as she followed him.

"Well good morning beautiful." Morgan grinned at her as she dragged herself into the room. "Aren't you chipper today."

"I will stab you with this pen."

Morgan just smiled while Garcia tried to hide her grin from Hotch.

"We have three dead girls, all brunette, all teenagers. The first, Whitney Matthews went missing three years ago when she was thirteen. She was found dead two years ago in Upstate New York. There were contusions on her arms and legs, signs of abuse both physical and sexual over the year she was missing, along with signs of malnutrition. Cause of death was asphyxiation. The second girl, Melanie Grant went missing two years ago, she was fifteen, found dead last year in the same condition as Whitney. The third girl was found yesterday, Jamie Young, she was fourteen when she went missing last year. We're going to New York." With that Hotch walked out of the room with the team behind him.

On the plane, JJ noticed that Emily seemed preoccupied. She wasn't looking over the file with the intense, determined scrutiny that she usually did.

"Em?" She asked gently. "You okay?"

Emily nodded quickly and picked up the file. "Yeah, fine." She said curtly. JJ let it go for now, figuring it was just going to take some getting used to for her to get back into the swing of things with the team. It had been hard when she came back. Reid, Morgan, Garcia and Rossi had been angry that JJ, Hotch and Emily hadn't trusted them with the information. But things seemed to have gotten back to normal in the last month or so, Emily's behavior was bothering JJ a bit.

After setting up at the police station in New York Emily, Morgan and Hotch headed to the crime scene of the most recent victim, Jamie. JJ, and Reid had gone to the morgue while Rossi stayed at the station to work with the officers and speak with the family.

"Its secluded." Morgan stated when they arrived. "Who found her?"

"A hiker. There are trails off to the left, not used very often." Hotch answered. Emily took in the surroundings, but she was finding it difficult to focus. It was taking much of her energy to do her job. She focused on Jamie and the other two girls, but unfortunately, they were the problem. Hotch's cell phone rang and he told the team to head back at the station. Garcia had some information for them.

"So, Whitney, Melanie and Jamie don't just look alike, they were all adopted."

"They're sisters?" JJ asked.

"No. But each girl was adopted into their families by use of the same adoption agency."

"Did the same social worker take their cases?" Emily asked.

"No, each had a different case worker. Sorry my lovelies, I'll keep looking."

"Thanks Garcia." Hotch said as he hung up the phone. "We should check out the agency. Garcia sent me the address. JJ, Emily, why don't you two head over there?"

"Sure." JJ and Emily climbed into the car and headed out. Emily hadn't bothered to protest when JJ sat in the driver's seat. Another sign of her not acting normally, JJ noted. "Em?" She asked as they began to drive. "You sure you're okay?"

"I said I was fine JJ."

"I know. But you tend to say that regardless."

"You're becoming a great profiler Jayje, but don't."

"Em..."

"I mean it JJ. Don't profile me. I said I'm fine." She said sharply. JJ wasn't having it. After all they went through with Doyle, she was sick of Emily shutting everyone out all the time.

"Emily, you seriously don't trust me after everything last year?"

Emily sighed. "Its not that Jayje. I just...I can't talk about it and work this case. I can't." Emily finally looked over at JJ and made eye contact.

"Fine. But when this case is over, whatever it is that is bothering you...out with it." JJ said with a tone of finality. Emily just gave her head a short nod and returned to looking out the window.

* * *

><p>Back at the police station Morgan, Reid and Hotch had been going through the girls files extensively. They couldn't find a single other similarity between them. They looked alike, were all around the same age, and had all been adopted with the same agency, but that was it. Despite all living in Upstate New York, they were each born in different towns, all at least half an hour or more apart from one another. All three girls went to different schools, had different doctors, were involved in different clubs and activities; Whitney was a soccer player, Melanie was a dancer, and Jamie had been learning to play the violin. None of their teachers crossed paths, neither girl had common friends, family, there was no connection besides the adoption agency. If it didn't pan out, they were effectively screwed.<p>

Morgan threw the folder he had in his hands onto the table in frustration. "I hate this case." He announced.

"I don't ever really _like _a case." Rossi said with a grin. Morgan ignored him and got up to refill his coffee cup.

"There is nothing!" Morgan insisted. "All we know about this guy is he likes brunettes, keeps them for a year before killing them, and then goes out to find the next girl. Jamie was killed yesterday, he's gotta be out looking for the next one, if he hasn't found her already!"

"The fact that he never kept any of them longer than a year is interesting. Whitney was thirteen, Melanie was fifteen and Jamie was fourteen, so we're not really looking at a pedophile here. This man leads more towards Hebephilia, which is the term for people who are sexually attracted to teenagers usually ranging from eleven to fourteen. Its sometimes classified along with pedophilia, but it is distinctly different. The name originated from the Greek Goddess of Youth, Hebe. She was the daughter of Zeus and Hera, and she is also known as..."

"Reid! Enough!" Morgan cut him off.

"Sorry."

"Its okay kid, just...we get it, he likes young teenage girls, he's a sick fuck. There is a name for it, moving on." Reid simply took a sip of his coffee and returned to looking over his file. Emily and JJ walked back into the station not a minute later. Morgan perked up. "Please tell me you found something." He begged.

"Not much." Emily said as she sat down next to Reid.

"The agency deals with open adoptions, closed and private. Mostly with closed." JJ began telling the team. "Families looking to adopt compile files on themselves and the mother can go through them and chose a family. That's how 80% of their adoptions work, about 15% are open, the mothers meet with the prospective families and stay apart of the child's life, they work out specifics. And about 5% are completely private, the mother doesn't know where the baby is going, and the families don't know anything about the mother. All three girls were normal closed adoptions. The birth mothers picked thy families out, none of them met each other, but all three mothers were listed on file, we have their information." JJ got herself a cup of coffee and sat down on the other side of Reid, having given all the information they had. Hotch took the file from JJ.

"Cynthia Greene, twenty-two, from a middle class background was the mother of Whitney; Maria Thomas, twenty-seven, upper class background, mother of Melanie, and Katherine James, seventeen, middle class, mother of Jamie. Was there any information on the fathers?" Emily shook her head. "We should visit the mothers. They might know something."

"That'll be a shock. Hey ma'am, you gave birth to a kid, gave it away and now its dead, you have anything to do with it?" Morgan said sarcastically. He didn't notice the death glare Emily gave him, but JJ did.

"I doubt we should word it like that." Reid said with a completely serious face. Rossi stifled a chuckle.

"I was kidding."

"Oh."

"Come on, all three of them still live in the area it seems like. We'll spilt up, its all we've got for now. Morgan, Prentiss, you two take Katherine James, Reid and JJ, you two take Cynthia Greene, Dave, you and I will take Maria Thomas. Call if you find anything." Hotch said.

* * *

><p>"This is probably gonna suck." Morgan said as he and Emily walked up to Katherine James' house. "I mean, teenage mother probably doesn't want this brought back up."<p>

"What would you know about it?" Emily asked a little more sharply than she had intended.

"I don't." Morgan said hesitantly. "Look Prentiss, you good?"

"I just had this conversation with JJ Derek, don't profile me."

"I'm not trying to, but after Doyle..."

"I don't want to talk about to Derek, lets just solve this case please." Morgan wanted to press further. The team had all been a little on edge with Emily since she came back, but the desperation in her voice stopped him. For now. Like JJ, he was willing to let it slide for a time, but he was paying close attention, and Emily knew it.

* * *

><p>"Ma'am did the father of your baby consent to the adoption?"<p>

"Why?" The tearful woman asked.

"Well..." JJ began, but the Cynthia Greene cut her off.

"You think Kevin murdered his own kid?"

"We need to check everything. To be thorough."

"Yeah, we both agreed on it. Neither of us wanted to be parents. Timing or whatever. He was an ass, but he would never hurt anybody. Especially not a kid, definitely not his own, wether he was a father to it or not."

"Can we get his contact information?" Reid asked.

"Sure, hang on."

* * *

><p>Hotch and Rossi didn't have any more luck than the other two groups. None of the mothers seemed to have any violent tendencies, all seemed genuinely shocked at hearing of their daughter's deaths, and none of the fathers had records. Garcia was instructed to keep digging into all of them regardless, but it was doubtful that any of the birth parents were suspects. The team decided to call it a night and look at the case fresh in the morning. They headed to the hotel. On the way Reid pointed out various Halloween decorations and began listing off facts regarding witches and goblins origins. Morgan almost smacked him by the time they all finally checked in and called it a night.<p>

Emily dropped her bag onto the floor and decided she desperately needed to take a long bath. Knowing she wouldn't get any sleep anyway, she let the water run and dug out a Kurt Vonnegut novel. It hardly worked as a distraction and after re-reading the same sentence for the sixth time she threw the book onto the floor and let herself sink underwater. She held her breath for as long as she could before popping up again, then dunked in again. She tried to stay under longer each time, and the fourth time she slipped her head under after almost a minute and a half then she felt herself being hauled up to the surface.

"What the fuck!" She screamed at Morgan. "Get out!"

"Sorry." Morgan said as he quickly averted his eyes. "I thought...I knocked like fifty times and then you weren't...sorry." He quickly walked out of the bathroom and closed the door. Sighing, Emily reluctantly climbed out of the bathtub and secured a robe around herself before following him.

"What do you need? Break in the case?" She asked keeping her voice devoid of all emotion.

"What? Oh, no. I just...I wanted to make sure you were okay. After we talked to that woman, you...I dunno. But you sure as shit have been weird the last week or so, and worse ever since we got here. Prentiss, whatever is going on you can tell me."

"I know I can. I don't want to." That hurt more than Morgan realized. He did his best to hide the hurt from his face, but Emily caught it. "I just...I know you are all there for me, I appreciate it. I trust all of you with my life. I love all of you, its nothing like Doyle. I promise. I just...I don't want to talk about it. It hurts too much. At least here, with this case...I don't want to deal with it now. I want to find the bastard that hurt these girls, then maybe I'll deal with me okay?"

Morgan hesitated for a moment, then faltered. "Fine. But I'm not letting this go and neither is JJ." He warned.

"I figured."

"I got your back Emily."

"I know." She smiled at him. "I got yours." Morgan gave her a small pat and headed out of her room.

"Get some sleep."

"I'll try."

* * *

><p>Emily barely got four hours of sleep. The next morning they finally gotten a break in the case, one of the workers at the adoption agency had a step sister who was killed when she was fourteen. Turns out, he was a suspect even though he had only been twelve at the time. He had been in and out of therapy most of his teenage and adult life, and after another girl went missing that morning, Samantha Jones; Garcia had found the record of Andrew Baker and called Hotch. Samantha, Jamie, Melanie, and Whitney all looked quite a bit like Tanya Baker; his step sister. Tanya had been raped and murdered in a very similar fashion to the three girls. She had gone missing for a year before her body was found. They headed over to question him immediately and he ran. Emily, rather than Morgan had made it to him first and full on tackled him to the ground. Morgan complained that she took his job, she said he could punch him for good measure. JJ happily delivered fourteen year old Samantha to her parents and the team headed home.<p>

Emily did her best to ignore the intent stares JJ and Morgan were shooting her way but she knew it was only a matter of time before they started on her again. She was exhausted. She just hoped they would wait until the morning.

"She is pretending to be asleep." JJ whispered to Morgan as they both stared at Emily leaning against the plane's window.

"I know."

"What are we gonna do about it?"

Morgan bit his lip as he watched his friend. "Wait." Before JJ could object he continued on. "Give her till tomorrow to come to us, finish paperwork on this case, then if she doesn't fess up, make her."

"Fine." JJ grumbled as she sat back in her seat. "But if she doesn't talk to us tomorrow..." She warned.

"I know Jayje. Chill out." Morgan said with a smile that earned him a smack on the shoulder.

"What are you talking about?" Reid asked.

"Nothing kid, get some sleep."

"Are you talking about Emily?"

"Can it kid!"

"Are you?"

"Reid!"

"Yes Spence. We were." JJ said as she gave Morgan another – much harder – smack.

"Somethings bothering her." Reid said.

"Yeah kid, we know."

* * *

><p>Emily had been avoiding the team as much as she possibly could, she had managed to get about seven hours of sleep combined in the last two days and everyone had left her alone. Left her alone, but she could feel them watching her. They hadn't gotten a new case yet and for once, Emily was caught up on her paperwork. Thinking Reid would be the easiest to handle being around – and would be the only other one done with his paperwork – she asked him if he wanted to go out for coffee. Anything to get out of the bureau. Reid had happily agreed, and Emily noticed the looks JJ and Morgan had given him.<p>

"Its nice out today huh?" Reid asked as they entered the coffeehouse. Emily just nodded. "Not too cold for the end of October. I'll bet kids will be happy. Warm Halloween and all. Are you gonna dress up?"

"No."

"Oh, what was your favorite ever Halloween costume?"

"I dunno."

"How about second favorite?"

"I dunno."

"How about..."

"Reid!"

"Sorry."

"Its okay." They got their coffee in silence and went to sit outside and drink them. Reid was right, it was still relatively warm for late October. They figured that they might as well enjoy it while it lasted. "Go ahead." Emily said after they had sat quietly for a few moments.

"Go ahead and what?"

"Ask whatever JJ and Morgan told you to."

Reid smiled sheepishly. "How did you know?"

"I'm a profiler and I've known all of you for years?"

"Good point."

"So...?" Emily prompted.

"There is something bothering you." Reid said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Emily just nodded. "Will you tell me what it is? Maybe we can help."

"You can't."

"Emily..."

"No Reid, this isn't like with Doyle, its not...I had a baby when I was sixteen. I gave her up for adoption, she was born on Halloween. This time of year sucks for me. There isn't anything to fix."

Reid sat absolutely silently just staring at Emily as he tried to process the information she had given him. He didn't even sip his coffee. After about five minutes he finally managed to speak, "wow" was all he got out.

"Well, now you know why that case bothered me. With the time of year and everything...and all the crap with Doyle I just...its hitting me a lot harder than usual this year. I regret it. I have for a long time. I mean I was sixteen, I wouldn't have been able to do it, not well anyway but...I want to be a mother. And knowing I gave my kid up...it just sucks okay?" Reid nodded. "I know everyone is going to want to know what's wrong, but I really can't talk about it much. You can tell them, but I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay."

"I'm heading home. Call me if we get a case."

"Okay."

* * *

><p>"She had a kid!" Morgan yelled.<p>

"Oh my God." JJ whispered. Reid had decided to only tell JJ and Morgan, since they had been the only ones who had been in on the scheme to find out what was wrong, but Garcia walked up as he was telling them, and Hotch and Rossi heard her scream after she overheard Morgan, and now everyone knew.

"She doesn't want to talk about it. She said I could tell you, but to leave it at that." Reid said quickly at the look the was crossing Garcia's face.

"There is a baby Prentiss out there somewhere." Garcia said longingly.

"Well, no." Reid said looking confused. "Emily had her when she was sixteen, that means there is a fifteen year old out there. Not a baby Garcia that would be ridiculous."

"I didnt...I know she's not still a baby Reid."

"But you said..."

"Both of you stop it!" JJ said sternly.

"Sorry." They both grumbled.

"We are not going to badger her about this." JJ said looking right at Garcia.

"Why are you looking at me?"

"Garcia!"

"Oh fine!"

"I mean it!"

"I said fine!" Garcia said. But the second she was out of their sight she practically sprinted to her computer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for the reviews, they really help motivate me:) Hope you continue to enjoy. All words not in english I got from google translate, so if they are wrong, I apologize. **

**-I don't own the characters sadly:( **

Garcia was in trouble. She knew this, had known it while she was getting herself into trouble, and knew it now as she walked towards her impending doom, but it couldn't be helped. So she would get yelled at, small price to pay for helping a friend right? _Hopefully_. She thought. After taking a deep breath, she knocked on JJ's door and then opened it after hearing a 'come in' from the other side.

"So I did a thing." Garcia spat out nervously.

JJ's eyes narrowed as she looked at her friend clutching a manilla folder to her chest. "What kind of thing?"

"A thing I was told not to do."

"Garcia..."

"I found her!" Garcia yelled out excitedly. "I know I was given specific instructions to drop it, but a baby Emily! I just, she's been so sad lately, and I couldn't stand it and..."

"Penelope, what are you saying?" JJ said, her voice dangerously calm. Garcia gave a small frown and then held the folder out to the glaring blonde in front of her. JJ wrenched it out of her hands, and tore through the folder. She let out a gasp as she saw the photograph tucked inside. "Oh my god she..."

"Looks exactly like a tiny Emily!" Garcia squealed as she ran around to look over JJ's shoulder. "Well, sort of, I mean, you can see the similarities. Same dark hair, but its curly! How cute is that? Same pale skin, stoic, gorgeous face, you can tell she is stubborn as hell, just like her mama! Only real difference is her eyes. Blue, and a bit of green. So precious, I just want to hold her forever. Look at that sad little face Jayje."

"She...her name is Calla. Calla Lily Pierce. God..." JJ said staring at the photograph of the young girl in front of her. It was amazing.

"Her adoptive parents died Jayje. When she was six. She's been in foster care since. She..."

"No!" JJ yelled. "Garcia, I told you not to do this! Emily doesn't want to talk about it."

"Because she thinks Calla already has a loving family, she doesn't want to ruin her life, but she doesn't. Look at that face Jayje, that is a lonely little girl. They need each other."

"Penelope..."

"You know I'm right Jayje. Don't bother saying otherwise. Will she be mad? Probably, but if this helps get them together the I am fine with her being mad at me for a while."

JJ sighed. She couldn't really argue with that logic, but she couldn't help the pit feeling in her stomach. Emily wouldn't just be a little mad for a while, she would be furious. Emily held on to her privacy tightly, she had let up a bit since coming back from the dead, but her life was still her life, this went beyond a small invasion. "Garcia, how did you even find this? Aren't foster care records private?"

"Well, yes, and this one very much so. Em's mom must have pulled some crazy tight strings in this adoption, it was a bitch to work around. That's why it took me almost two weeks. But, I am amazing, so..."

There was a small knock on the door. JJ and Garcia both looked up quickly and JJ shoved the folder under some other papers quickly. Hotch gave her an odd look, but ignored it. "Conference room, five minutes. We've got a case." Both blondes nodded to him and he walked out.

"You do not say a thing." JJ said in her mom voice. "I mean it Penelope, Not. A. Damn. Thing. Until we talk more about this."

"I promise."

"Garcia."

"No, I really promise, not like before. I promise. Truthfully, I would be too scared to tell her alone. The girl knows her way around a gun."

JJ actually gave a laugh at that, but brought her face back to a frown before both women headed off to the conference room.

Emily had been avoiding the team as much as possible in the last two weeks. She could feel their eyes constantly on her. Just as that had begun to stop – they had been keeping her in their eyesight at all times since she came back from Paris – it started again. It was beyond infuriating. She just wanted life to be normal again. On good terms with the team, catching bad guys, going home to sleep. She needed that normalcy back and she needed it now. The constant worrying looks, everyone walking on eggshells around her, she was ready to explode.

"We've got three dead men. All college students, all drowned. We're going to Chicago. Jet's up in half an hour." Hotch said.

Emily looked over the file in front of her and could feel JJ staring at her. She did her best to ignore the blonde but her concentration was shot. Sighing, she stood up and told them she was going to grab some coffee before they headed out. JJ quickly jumped up and said she would join her.

"How have you been?" JJ asked as they made their way to the coffeepot in the bullpen. "Haven't seen much of you in the last few weeks."

"Fine." Emily said curtly.

"Garcia and I were talking earlier, we were thinking that we are long overdue for a girls night. How about once this case is finished?"

Emily poured some coffee into a mug and added one packet of splenda. She looked up at JJ's smiling face and grinned. "That sounds good." Finally, it felt normal to be making plans to hang out with Garcia and JJ. Truthfully, she had really missed hanging out with them after work. They hadn't had a proper girls night in forever. JJ had always been busy with her new job, Will and Henry, and then Doyle, and then Garcia thought she was dead...it would be nice to have the girls back together again. "That sounds great actually. Could we make it a night in though? I'm not really in the mood to go out."

"Sounds perfect. I'll let Garcia know, then met you in the jet?"

"Okay." Emily watched JJ run off and smiled. _Finally_.

* * *

><p>JJ burst into Garcia's lair causing her to squeal. "We're gonna have a girls night when we get back from this case, you, me, Emily, night of pigging out on pizza, wine and bad chick flicks."<p>

"And possibly telling our friend we found her long lost daughter?"

"You found. I stayed out of it."

"JJ!"

"Yes Garcia. I gotta go." JJ moved in and gave Garcia a quick peck on the cheek and a slap on the arm then ran out to meet the team.

* * *

><p>Dragging herself up to her apartment, Emily unlocked it and dropped her go-bag onto the floor. She sighed and opened her fridge, empty as usual. They had been gone almost a week, Emily learned a long time ago not to keep too many foods that would expire quickly in her fridge. Grabbing the phone, she ordered a small cheese pizza and jumped in the shower. The case had been draining. She was thankful it was over. She let the hot water run over her body for a few moments before even moving to wash her hair. It calmed her down. She was supporting a nasty bruise on her arm from chasing the unsub. Bastard had the gall to whack her with a two by four. She seemed to be the designated team member to get hit with pieces of wood. She turned off the water and yanked on a pair of sweats and an old t-shirt. Hearing the doorbell ring, Emily grabbed her purse and went to great the pizza delivery boy only to be met with a smiling JJ and Garcia instead.<p>

"You are not the pizza boy." Emily stated.

"No we are not. But we did order pizza!"

"So did I."

"We ordered more. You will have leftovers." Garcia said with a smile as she shoved her way into Emily's apartment. JJ gave her an apologetic smile and a hug as she followed her in.

"I thought we were having girls night tomorrow." Emily said as her friends sat themselves down in their usual places around the countertop. "JJ don't you want to see Henry and Will?"

"I did." JJ said with a smile. "Will is on a case of his own and they just got a breakthrough and Henry is now asleep at my mother's. Very happily I might add. She spoils him rotten. Worse than Garcia."

"Now that's not possible." Emily said giving her first real smile of the night.

"I cannot help it if I love my godchild. Its my duty to spoil him." Emily and JJ shared a look and both stifled laughs. "Speaking of children..." Garcia began. JJ looked like she was about to throw up and Emily instantly became nervous. She was not liking where this was going one little bit. Getting the feeling that the girls night had simply been a ruse she was becoming angry. So much for things getting back to normal.

"Penelope..." JJ warned.

"Do you want to tell us about it Emily? It might make you feel better." Garcia pressed on.

Emily clenched her fists – something that did not go unnoticed by JJ – and sighed deeply. "Is that the only reason you guys are here?" She asked attempting to keep her voice calm.

"No, of course not babe. We are sorely lacking in the girls night department. We love you, and want you to know you can talk to us – about anything – and this is a big thing. That's all."

JJ watched as Emily visibly relaxed a bit. It appeared to be more out of defeat and exhaustion than anything else. "Maybe your right." Emily practically whispered. Garcia beamed and looked to JJ excitedly. JJ stalled her with a look before she broke out into a squeal, or a dance, or something else wildly inappropriate that would cause Emily to shut down. "We're gonna need to break open that wine." Emily muttered. JJ moved to open it as the doorbell rang.

"I got it!" Garcia screamed as she ran to pay the delivery boy. Emily flopped down into a chair and gratefully accepted her glass from JJ, who sat next to her. Garcia bounded back, arms full of three boxes of pizza and began preparing plates. "You were saying?" She prompted gently.

Emily took a long sip of her wine and began playing with one of her rings, not really looking her friends in the eye. "Well, he was my best friend, you guys met him actually. Remember the case we had where my friend Matthew died?"

"Oh honey, he was the father?" Garcia asked sympathetically.

"No. Matthew and John were both my best friends. We lived in Italy. John was...he's the one who told me about Matthew. That's him."

"Oh." Garcia handed both Emily and JJ plates and JJ happily used the pizza as something to do with her hands. Emily barely touched it as she continued with her story.

"Well, we were both too young, I was gonna have an abortion, but it was too late. My mother was...furious doesn't even cover it. She took me out of school, said I was sick, forbid me from telling anyone, even John. Matthew knew because he had gone with me when I tried to have the abortion. My mother arranged the adoption. I didn't really have much of a say in it. I actually kinda wanted to keep her. Once I knew it was too late. I mean, I knew it would be hard, but...my mother never would have allowed it. I have no idea who adopted her, my mother just said it was a respectable couple who would take good care of her. Then she put me back in school and we both pretended it never happened. She worked very hard to make sure no one else ever knew. The family was sworn to secrecy, they signed a contract, I know that. She made Matthew sign one too when she found out he knew. I told John years later, he was angry, but he had never been interested in being a father. Still isn't. He usually calls or sends me a letter on her birthday though. That's it. Now you know all my secrets." Emily faked a smile and downed the rest of her wine.

Both Garcia and JJ were quiet. JJ had reached out and begun rubbing Emily's back about halfway through the story on instinct. Initially, Emily had stiffened but now she relaxed and let JJ take care of her. She needed it. Emily's stomach growled and she turned her attention to the pizza in front of her, missing the silent communication going on above her head. Finally, Garcia cleared her throat.

"Em?" She nervously gave the knives next to her a shove away towards the wall. "I did a thing." She began.

Emily instantly froze up. JJ's hand stopped rubbing circles on her back, but remained there. Sentences that came out of Garcia's mouth that started with, 'I did a thing' almost never ended well. "What thing?" Emily asked, her voice tight.

"Well..." Garcia began, looking everywhere but Emily's face. "When I found out you had a daughter...I didn't plan on it. Not exactly, but I'm in front of the computer all the time, and I have access to records and..."

"Penelope, please tell me you did not do what I think you did."

"I...I can do that if you want me to, but I would be lying a little bit."

"GARCIA!" Emily screamed as she jumped out of her seat. Garcia quickly – and smartly – moved backwards keeping the knives behind her and praying that Emily's gun was far out of reach. Emily whipped around to JJ. "Did you know about this?" She yelled.

"After the fact." JJ began, Emily cut her off as she turned her attention back to Garcia.

"I cannot believe you would...no, you know what I can. You can't stay out of people's business for one second. This is unbelievable." Emily stood up and began pacing back and forth muttering to herself. "Inacreditável, inacreditável porra."

"What is she saying?" Garcia asked JJ.

"I dunno, sounds like spanish, or portuguese. Its not good though Pen."

"I know!" The two women let the brunette pace for a few moments. She uttered various words that both of them figured to be not so nice and then finally stopped after a good five minutes. Garcia shied away from her glare. "Do you wanna know what I found out?" She almost whispered.

"No! Yes...no!...I don't know. I haven't decided whether or not to kill you yet."

"If you kill me you won't know what I found out!" Garcia quickly yelled. Despite her anger and frustration, the look on her face caused Emily to burst out into laughter. JJ and Garcia joined in and they three women let out their anxiety and frustration with a five minute long fit of giggles that made them feel like slap happy teenagers. When they finally calmed down Emily was still gasping for breath.

"I guess I do. But I am gonna need a hell of a lot more wine." Emily said grabbing the entire bottle and making her way to the couch. JJ and Garcia nervously followed and each sat down on one side of the brunette. Garcia had taken the file from her purse and clutched it to her lap as Emily lifted the bottle of wine and took a very long swig. JJ gave her a small frown. "What!" Emily snapped. "Sorry..I just..."

"I get it." JJ waved away the apology. Both women looked to Garcia, who was nervously playing with the corners of the file.

"Well, do you want me to tell you, or do you just want to look at the file?"

"Start by telling me. I can't read that yet."

"Her name is Calla."

"Calla?" Emily asked.

Garcia nodded and continued on. "Calla Lily Pierce. I've got a picture. A few actually. Do you want to see them?"

Emily shook her head. "Not yet."

"Okay. Well, your mother was right, she found a really good family. The Pierces were well off, but not quite as rich as you, her father's name was Eric, he was a college professor, he taught mythology. From what I can tell, he was very good at his job, all the students loved him. Her mother's name was Caroline, she was an architect. Very well respected in her field."

"You keep saying was." Emily whispered. JJ quickly moved to put her hand on Emily's knee and rubbed it gently to comfort her. Emily barely felt the contact, she couldn't really feel much of anything right now.

"Yes." Garcia shared a look with JJ before pressing on again. This was much harder than she thought it would be. "Well, from what I can tell, they lived happily together for six years, but there was a car accident, and Eric and Caroline both died. Neither of them had any other living relatives, and Calla was placed in foster care."

"What?" Emily said in a tiny voice.

"She's been in foster care for the last nine years. She lives in Boston."

"Gimme the file." Emily desperately demanded. Garcia slowly handed it over. "Will you guys leave me alone please?" Emily practically begged.

"Are you sure Em?" JJ asked gently. Emily only managed to nod. JJ looked over at a distraught Garcia and nodded her head towards the door. "Call, if you need _anything. _Do you hear me Emily Prentiss?" JJ pulled her face to her, to make sure Emily heard her. Emily nodded. JJ gave her a small kiss on the cheek and stood up to meet Garcia. "Anything Em." She was met with another curt nod. Sighing JJ stood up and pulled Garcia with her towards the door. They had put the pizza away while Emily had been talking earlier.

Garcia turned back to Emily. "Em...I..."

"Please leave. I'm not mad." The desperation was evident in her voice. Both blondes finally turned and went out the door. After hearing the final click that the door was shut, Emily took a deep breath and opened the file in her lap. She gasped and tears began to fall as she looked at the photograph in front of her. Her daughter. She was finally seeing her daughter. She looked exactly like Emily. But she had John's blue-green eyes. Emily broke down into sobs as she stared at the photograph for what felt like hours, until she finally fell asleep, on the couch, clutching the photograph and a bottle of wine.


	3. Chapter 3

Emily woke up with a piercing headache. The wine, sleeping on her couch, and the fact that she seemed to have cried out all of the water in her body to some point of dehydration was not helping. She slowly sat up and the photograph fell from her lap. She gasped again at the sight of her daughter. Picking it up she ignored the pains shooting through her body and stared at it for a few minutes. Emily didn't know what to think. She had no words to express her feelings. She was well read, educated, bright, an expert with linguistics, yet no words were coming to mind. It was aggravating and Emily couldn't think about it anymore. Taking the photograph and placing it back in its folder, she took a deep breath and stood up. While she made coffee, she took her daughter and shoved her back into the box in her head. Compartmentalizing was the only thing that had gotten Emily through her childhood, her work with Inter-pool, Doyle, all of her cases with the BAU, and everything with her daughter. _Calla_. Knowing her name was odd. It was hard to think of her as Calla. For her to have a name, it made her so much more real than she had before. Shoving Calla from her mind was the only thing she could think of right now. Anything else hurt too much.

Pouring out a large cup of coffee, Emily went to start the shower. Her phone rang, she ignored it.

Fifteen minutes later, she was still standing under the warm water. She hadn't even moved to wash her hair yet. She could hear her phone ringing over the water, she ignored it again.

Twenty minutes later, Emily had finally forced herself to wash her hair and climbed out of the now cold water. Her phone rang for the third time, she ignored it.

Ten minutes later, she was dressed, had finished her first cup of coffee and poured a second. The idea of eating something made her feel sick, so she grabbed a banana to take in case that changed and locked her apartment. Her phone rang for the fourth time, she climbed into her car, and ignored it.

Half an hour later, Emily was stuck in traffic on her way to the BAU. Knowing if she didn't let someone know they would freak, or she would be in trouble for tardiness, Emily grabbed her phone. She had five missed calls. Three from Garcia, two from JJ. Hitting speed dial, she placed the phone to her ear.

"Hotchner." A voice answered.

"Hotch, its Emily, traffic is horrible, I'm on my way."

"Okay, we don't have a case, see you when you get here."

"Thanks, bye."

And that was that.

* * *

><p>Car horns were bleeping in anger and frustration. Apparently there had been some sort car accident up ahead. No one appeared to be seriously hurt, from the looks of it, a teenager had been texting and swerved off the road. Emily rolled her eyes as she passed by. <em>Idiots. <em>

Finally Emily pulled into her parking spot at the bureau and grabbed her bag. Running to the elevator she fidgeted as she waited. Her phone had rung again after hanging up with Hotch - JJ, Emily ignored it.

The elevator dinged. Emily took a deep breath and set her face to show no emotion, then she walked out and into the bullpen. Instantly she could feel Morgan and Reid's eyes on her. She ignored them and sat down at her desk. Picking up the top file, she dove into her paperwork. All the while she could feel Morgan and Reid watching. Out of the corner of her eye, Emily saw Morgan send a text message from his phone. She heard the door to JJ's office open and shifted a little in her seat.

"Emily?" JJ's voice called from above. "Can you come to my office for a minute?"

"Now?" Emily asked without looking up from her paperwork.

"Yes, it won't take long." Silently cursing JJ, Emily stood up, straightened her shoulders and walked briskly up the stairs to JJ's office. "Can you close the door?" JJ asked as Emily stepped inside. Nodding, she shut it. For some reason, the audible click as it locked into place bothered Emily. JJ sat down at her desk while Emily remained standing upright, hands clasped together by the door. "Sit down Emily." JJ motioned to the chair in front of her. Reluctantly, Emily sat down.

* * *

><p>JJ could tell from the rigid stance Emily maintained, and the fact that she refused to meet JJ's eyes that she was not all right. Her brave front was set, and it was going to be difficult to break down. The brunette frustrated JJ. After everything the team had been through, everything with Doyle, it was still hard for Emily to open up. It was ingrained into the very fibers of her being to not break down, to not show emotion, to be a Prentiss. JJ cursed Emily's parents for what they did to her. Years later, they still had a hold on her. JJ knew that Emily wasn't going to offer up any information by herself. Truthfully, she hadn't brought her here to question her, she knew Emily would want to be left alone. She was trying to get her away from the scrutiny of the bullpen. Without a word JJ reached down and brought up new copies of the files that had been on Emily's desk. She handed them over and then went back to work on her own files. Sensing Emily's uncertainly, she remained silent and handed over a large cup of coffee, this time not bothering to make eye contact. Not a second later, JJ heard Emily let out a small sigh of relief and saw her take a sip of coffee and open up a file. JJ didn't bother trying to hide the smile that crept onto her face. Emily's hand brushed hers momentarily, and she gave JJ's a squeeze of thanks. JJ simply gave her one back and the two women dove into their work.<p>

* * *

><p>Garcia could not focus. JJ had sent her a text saying Emily was finally in the building, she clearly didn't want to talk about it, and JJ was bringing her up to her office to work. Garcia was forbidden – under any and all emergency circumstances – from coming into JJ's office. Morgan had already stopped her twice as she tried to sneak by him.<p>

"Baby girl, let it alone. She'll talk when she's ready and not a minute before."

"But Derek..."

"This isn't like Doyle. She's not in danger, she's not going anywhere, she just needs time. Its a lot to process."

"I know, I just...I just want to help."

"I know you do, but you can't. Not yet anyway. When she is ready for your help, she'll ask."

Garcia had stalked back to her bat cave. Not able to simply sit around doing nothing, she decided that when Emily did finally ask for Garcia's help – and she would, she would have no choice in the matter – Garcia was going to be as fully prepared as she could be. So she spent the rest of the morning doing what she did best and finding out every bit of information on a one Calla Lily Pierce as she could. No one had to know.

* * *

><p>Emily and JJ had spent the entire morning doing paperwork and they were – to put it plainly – sick of it. Leaning back and stretching her arms out JJ finally got Emily to look her in the eye.<p>

"Want to go out for lunch? I can't stay in here anymore. Its beautiful out."

"Yeah, that sounds good."

"Want me to ask Garcia to join us?"

"Could you not?" Emily almost whispered. "Its just...she'll...I love her JJ, but I'm...I just can't yet."

"No problem. Grab your coat, I'll meet you at the elevator in a sec." Emily nodded and walked out of JJ's office. JJ noticed her pause at the door, take a deep breath and straighten her back before walking out. She shook her head. Emily Prentiss was a hard person to get to know and after almost five years, she still put up walls. JJ watched her walk straight down to her desk, not looking a soul in the eye, grab her coat and almost sprint away to the elevators. Sighing, she pulled out her cell phone and purse, grabbed her own coat and headed after her. Not before sending a quick text message to Garcia.

**Taking Em out to lunch, you are still forbidden from my office, I'll update you later. **

* * *

><p>"Emily's acting weird." Reid said to Morgan as he watched the two women head out for lunch.<p>

"I know."

"Weirder than usual."

"I know."

"Weirder than the usual weird."

"Reid! I know!"

"Do you know why?"

"Yes and so do you."

"I wish she would talk about it."

"So do I kid, but she will when she's ready."

"Garcia told me her daughter's name."

"Yeah?" Morgan finally looked up from his paperwork at that. He had been reprimanding Garcia too much to listen to the information she had been trying to tell him. He figured if he didn't hear it from Emily herself, then she didn't want him to know.

Reid nodded. "Its Calla. Kinda pretty don't you think?"

"Yeah kid, its a nice name."

"Is is weird that I want to meet her?" Reid asked in a small voice. Morgan set his file down and caught Reid's eye.

"No kid, its not weird. Emily's your friend. I'm curious about the kid too. But you gotta remember, as curious we are, Prentiss is feeling it ten times worse, along with guilt and baggage from whatever happened back then. Whatever she decides from this, we support her."

"I know."

Morgan nodded to Reid and went to retrieve his file but he found that he couldn't bring himself to work anymore without eating something. He took his file and gently tossed it to Reid. "I'm grabbing some food, what'd you want?"

"A sandwich please."

"Turkey?"

"Yeah thanks." Morgan stood up to get the food and Reid called after him. "Can you get more coffee please?" Morgan just chuckled and nodded his head.

* * *

><p>Emily shifted her weight from one foot to the other. It was a way of fidgeting without really fidgeting. At least that's what she was telling herself. She and JJ placed their orders at a small deli about a block from the bureau and went to find a booth. Emily was immensely thankful that JJ hadn't asked her about Calla, but she had a feeling it was coming. Wanting to divert the attention from herself, Emily began to speak as soon as they sat down.<p>

"How's Henry?" A sure fire topic to send JJ gushing for a few minutes at least.

"Nice try." JJ said with a grin.

"No really? He's in preschool now isn't he? Does he like it?"

"Yes. He loves it. His teacher is wonderful, he seems to be a fast learner, and he's made a good couple of friends."

"That's great JJ." Emily said with a genuine smile. Emily loved Henry. He was a lot like his mother.

"So...?" JJ began. Silently Emily groaned, outwardly, she straightened her back, sipped the coffee in front of her, and pretended that she had no idea what JJ was about to ask. "Emily. Cut it out with the Ambassador's daughter front crap. Its me. JJ, remember her? The woman who helped keep you safe, the one who kept the secret that you were in fact alive? The friend who has had your back for five years? You can talk to me."

"I know."

"Well?"

"I don't know JJ."

"Emily!"

"No, I mean that's it. I don't know how I feel. I'm numb. I can't figure it out."

"Well, thats a start. Numb is how you feel."

"I guess."

The waiter came and dropped off their food. For a few moments they dug in, eating in silence as they contemplated Emily's situation. Finally, after eating at least half of her meal, JJ began talking again.

"How did you feel after you gave her up? While you were pregnant? Start there."

"Why?"

"It might help."

"I was terrified." JJ waited, knowing that prodding Emily wouldn't get anything out of her faster, it would only cause her to shut down. She ate quietly and just listened knowing it was what Emily needed. "I...I put her in a box. I refused to think about her, it...it hurt too much. My mother pretended it never happened, I've never spoken to her about it since. I don't think about her, I try not too, but the box is faulty, it opens by itself and I can't ignore it. I've been thinking about her a lot and now this...I just...I don't know."

"Do you want to meet her?" JJ said quietly, realizing at this point, Emily needed some sort of push.

"No. Yes. Yes. But no."

"That makes sense."

Emily laughed bitterly. "No it doesn't."

"Yeah, actually it does. You do, but you're scared. Emily, this is all understandable. Normal. This is how anyone would feel in your position."

"What if she doesn't want to meet me?" Emily said in a voice so quiet that JJ almost didn't catch it.

"She will."

"JJ how can you know that?"

"Because, you're her mother. Children wonder about their parents. Its natural. One of my best friends growing up was adopted." Emily looked up at JJ and listened intently. "She knew, her parents never kept it a secret. She loved them. But she always wondered about her birth parents. She wanted to know them, know who they were, meet them at least. She went to a meeting for adopted kids once, she said all of them mostly felt the same way at one point or another. People want to know where they came from. No matter how it goes, you'll know. She won't be just the baby you saw, or a name, or a little girl in a box in your head. You'll know." Emily didn't trust herself to speak, so she only brushed her tears away and nodded quickly. "Alright, I'm done. You?" Emily nodded again. The two women paid for their food and made their way out of the deli. Since it was only about a block away, and it was a nice day, they had walked there. As they made their way back to the bureau JJ silently slipped her hand into Emily's and gave it a squeeze. Emily didn't respond but gripped JJ's hand tightly and didn't release it until they made their way down to Garcia's "lair."

* * *

><p>"Penelope?" JJ asked as she poked her head in.<p>

"JJ!" Garcia screamed. "You can't sneak up on a girl like that!" Emily and JJ noted that Garcia was doing everything she could to minimize what was covering her many computer screens. She wasn't quick enough however, and Emily caught a picture that she knew had to be Calla at about eight or nine.

"Garcia?" She asked.

"Before you two yell at me let me explain." JJ crossed her arms and glared at Garcia while Emily just stared at the photograph and listened. "I know you're mad, and I know you don't want to talk, and while I think that is unhealthy and I am your friend and I love you and you should trust me, I get it. You're not ready yet and that's fine. But I know you Emily Prentiss and before you protest, I do. You can't deny it. So I knew you would be ready eventually, and I wanted to be prepared to help you however I could when that time came, so...so this is me preparing and you weren't supposed to see it until you asked."

"Garcia..." JJ began, but Emily cut her off.

"I'm ready."

"What?" Both blondes asked simultaneously.

Emily tore her eyes away from the photograph and met Garcia's. "I'm ready."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N- I sincerely apologize for the long wait. I wanted to have this up sometime around the premiere (can we say AWESOME! this season is going to be epic, I can feel it, JJ and Em back where they belong) but I got sick, and then I got a little stuck, and well I'm just sorry. Here we go:) Hope you enjoy. **

"Oh...you're...you're not mad?" Garcia asked softly.

"No I am a little. I love you Penelope, but you went a little too far this time. I am a bit annoyed with you, and I will be for a while I think; but I'm not mad, and I want your help." Emily said with her face set and her emotions in check.

"Oh, okay." Garcia looked down at her lap. "I _am_ sorry." She said. "I was just trying to help."

"I know." Emily said with a small smile. She relaxed her shoulders and moved to sit down next to Garcia. "You're gonna have to give me a little time to be semi annoyed though."

"Okay."

JJ had watched the interaction between her friends without interjecting. She loved them both. More than anyone – with the exception of Henry and Will – and it bothered her to see them like this. Truthfully, while she loved Garcia, and everyone knew she was a bit pushy, JJ was a little annoyed with the depth that she pushed and how quickly this time. Not wanting to make anything harder than it was, JJ smiled and sat herself down on top of Garcia's desk. "So, where do we begin?" She asked.

Garcia gave her a smile and turned her attention to her computer screens. "Well, I figured you would want to know everything about her I could find, so I just started digging. She gets good grades, she's had six different foster homes, she's a dancer, I found some video clips of her recitals, she's good Em. Like, good." Garcia stressed. "Kinda stunningly, crazy good." Emily smiled into her hands at that bit of information. JJ and Garcia both caught it and smiled at each other. "Want to see her dance?"

"Okay." Emily practically whispered.

Garcia gave a little squeal and furiously typed away at the computer keys. "This is from when she was about nine I believe. Its a duet she did with an older girl, I think it said the other girl was like twelve or something. Its contemporary. Whatever that means. I don't really know dance terms. I just know that our girl owns this dance!" Garcia hit play and the three women were captivated by the tiny girl on the screen. Emily felt herself stop breathing. Her daughter was amazing. Nine years old and she was graceful, strong, and put every emotion she had into the dance. They could feel it through a freaking computer screen, imagine what it would feel like to see her live. When it was over, all three women had tears in their eyes.

"Are there more?" Emily whispered again.

"You bet." Garcia said with a grin.

The three women lost track of time. They spent the entire afternoon glued to their seat watching video after video that Garcia had found. Calla was talented. They watched her tap dance and heard the audience cheer her on; they watched her fly into the air with no fear as other children caught her in large jazz group numbers, they watched her bring the audience to their feet in duets, and solos for contemporary, they watched her do ballet, hip hop, and even an irish jig. Every moment was captivating. As she grew older, her strength and stage presence only grew. By the time the last video – a large contemporary group number from when Calla was thirteen – finished playing, it was almost after six pm.

"God. We've been here all day." JJ exclaimed.

"That's the last one I could find. The dance studios only upload so many." Garcia said. Emily remained quiet, not trusting her emotions enough to speak. "I was burning them to a dvd while we watched. You can have it if you want Em."

Emily nodded. "That...thank you Penelope." Emily said with a smile.

"No problem."

"I'd better call Will, he's gonna wonder if we have a case or not." JJ gave Emily's shoulder a gentle rub as she dialed her phone. "Call me if you need anything okay?" Emily nodded. "Night Pen." JJ said as she left, giving each woman a small peck on the cheek. Garcia collected the finished dvd and the printed out information that she had compiled on Calla and handed it over to Emily.

"Do you need me to do anything else?" Garcia asked shyly.

"No PG. Thanks, this is good. Its...I mean I kinda need you too..."

"Stay out of it for real unless you ask from now on?" Garcia said with a sheepish, but genuine smile.

"Yeah. Thanks."

"No problem. I'm hear if you need."

"I know. And I love you for it." Emily stood, took the folders and gave Garcia a pat on the back. "Goodnight Garcia."

Emily returned to the bullpen and gathered her things. She couldn't seem to trust what she was thinking, her body was working on autopilot. The drive home seemed to only take moments, but hours at the same time. It was just confusing. Confusing and numb. Emily couldn't work out anything else. She decided to simply follow routine. It was the only thing that helped when she was a child, and she would rely on it now as well. Setting down her bags – and the information on Calla – she went to change into comfy clothes. Once she was dressed, she set about to find something for dinner, of course there was limited food in the fridge, so begrudgingly, she opted for take out. She had wanted the small distraction of having to cook something. As she waited for the pizza, she poured a glass of wine and stared at the folders on her countertop. Unable to ignore them any longer, Emily dove in.

Hours later, she had read, re-read, and re-read again everything that Garcia had found. It wasn't much. Mostly full of school records, some medical information – Calla had her tonsils out when she was eight, broken her right wrist at nine, left arm at eleven, and had walking phenomena at fourteen – other than that, it mostly told where she lived, how the visits to her foster families had gone and had a few bits of information on her doctors and social workers. Emily decided that she had reached the end of the line. She found out everything she could without actually knowing the girl. At that terrified her more than anything else. Dropping the folders with a frustrated sigh she went to clear away the pizza and wine. Emily fell asleep on her couch for the second time that week, this time rather than staring at a photograph, she watched the videos of her daughter dancing.

* * *

><p>Reid poured his third cup of coffee for the morning and returned to his desk. "Hello Emily." He greeted her as she walked in and sat down.<p>

"Hey Reid." Emily said giving him a quick smile. She was late – again – and it was annoying her. She had woken up in pain from sleeping on the couch again. It had taken her that much longer to get her ass moving that morning. She had spilled her coffee, her car took four tries to start, and she had managed to lose a file that she had been working on the night before, only to have it turn up in her car after looking for almost half and hour.

"Rough morning?" Reid asked with a gentle smile.

"You could say that." Emily gave him a small laugh. "Do we have a case?" Reid shook his head. "Thank god. I'm gonna go change my shirt then, coffee stains aren't really in season yet." Reid laughed as Emily walked off. He was happy that his friend seemed to be getting back to her old self. He had had some issues with trusting her as she 'came back from the dead' and he had finally started getting over them. Every once in a while, he would find himself annoyed with her, or Hotch, or JJ, but he knew they only did it to protect everyone and that made him feel better.

"Hey kid." Morgan said as he sauntered into the bullpen.

"Hi."

"Case?" Morgan asked.

"Nope."

"Goddamnit. I am sick of paperwork."

"That's because you procrastinate and avoid it as much as you can, then it piles up. I'm pretty much done. I do it as I need to." Reid said with a small grin.

"Shut it kid." Morgan said as he threw a paper ball at Reid's head.

"Boys, stop that!" JJ said, laughing as she walked in the room.

"He started it." Morgan responded playfully.

"I did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Seriously? You two are worse than my four year old."

"I resent that." Reid said pouting slightly.

"Resent it all you want Spence, still true." JJ said as she ruffled Reid's hair. Reid quickly made to fix it as JJ and Morgan just laughed at each other. Emily chose this moment to walk back into the bullpen, clean, coffee-free shirt on and a smile on her face. All three other profilers in the room watched her and knew the smile was fake, but trying, so they ignored it. "Morning Em." JJ greeted her with a smile of her own.

"Hi JJ." The four profilers sat down and got to work on their files.

* * *

><p>The morning went by slowly. Case after case, they plunged through their paperwork. It was exhausting, and by the time lunch rolled around all of them wold much rather have been catching a serial killer than writing about it.<p>

"You guys want to go out?" Morgan asked with a groan. "I need to get out of this building."

"Yes." Everyone responded.

"I'll ask Hotch and Rossi if they want to join us." Emily said.

Morgan nodded. "I'll call Garcia."

As Emily walked up to Hotch's office, JJ and Reid gathered their things. Emily gave a small knock and entered after the gruff, 'come in' from Hotch. "Hey, we're gonna head out for lunch, want to join us?"

His head still deep in paperwork, he finally glanced up. "I'm all set, thank you though." Emily nodded and made to leave, but Hotch spoke up again. "Are you alright?" Emily paused and turned back to him. "Garcia is loud." He explained. Emily gave a small laugh and nodded.

"I'm...I don't know." Emily said honestly. "I've been better. But I'm fine."

Hotch nodded, he figured that was the response he would get. Emily wasn't one to dwell on her own feelings and problems. She preferred to work, fix other people's problems, and ignore her own, much like himself. "If you need anything..." He said.

"Thanks Hotch."

He nodded. "Have a good lunch, we may have a case when you guys get back. I'm not sure yet."

"Okay, I'll let them know."

Rossi had also declined, he had eaten half of his lunch at his desk already and he wanted to just get the paperwork done. They promised to buy him a coffee however, and the five left the building. Knowing Emily would bring it up if she wanted to, everyone ignored talking about Calla and instead reverted into playful banter and had a very enjoyable lunch. There was much teasing of Reid, gushing over Henry, and sexual innuendo from Garcia and Morgan. It was just what Emily needed. Her friends just being there, talking, laughing, enjoying themselves. It cheered her up more than she realized. When they got back to the bureau, they did indeed have a case.

"Four young men killed in Maine in the last month. One a week. Wheels up in thirty." Hotch had said almost immediately after they walked in.

"Good thing I stayed behind. I'm done with paperwork now." Rossi said with a grin as he took the coffee from Emily. She smacked him. "Hey!" He yelled at her. She only smirked and grabbed her go-bag before following her team to the jet. She was going to focus on this case, find this killer, then once she got back, she would make a decision about what she was going to do about Calla. No more avoiding, no more compartmentalizing, she would deal with it. She returned JJ's smile and followed her friend to the jet, _here we go again, _she thought.


	5. Chapter 5

Emily was exhausted. The case had taken an entire week. A week full of very, very little sleep, a lot of running around, and another dead man before they finally found the unsub. Rather than sleep in the hotel another night, everyone had opted to just fly home despite the already late hour (3am). By the time Emily finally pulled into her home, it was around 7:30am. She was too tired to bother with anything. Locking her door, dropping her bag on the floor, she dragged herself up the stairs, yanked off her pants and bra, and flopped into the bed. She didn't bother brushing her teeth, changing her cloths, or turning the light off. She was asleep within seconds.

When Emily woke up, it was around four in the afternoon according to her alarm clock. Groaning, she rolled back over and snuggled down into her covers a little; not wanting to leave the comfort of her bed. She heard her cell phone ring and bent over the side of her bed to dig it out of the pocket of her pants. Seeing it was JJ, she accepted the call.

"If you are about to tell me that we have a case I am hanging up now." Emily said as she snuggled back into the covers again. She could hear JJ laughing on the other side of the phone.

"No, no case that I know off. You're still in bed aren't you?"

"Umm..."

"I am too." JJ said with a laugh. Then Emily heard an "umph" sound and before she could ask a tiny voice responded. "Hi Aunt Emily! It's Henry!"

"Hi Henry, did you just jump on your mother?" Emily said trying to hide her laughter from the blonde four year old.

"Yes I did. She's still in bed. Are you in bed too?"

"Yes I am. We got home late last night."

"I know, Mama told me. Do you want to talk to her again?"

"Yes please."

"Bye Aunt Emily!"

"Bye Henry."

Emily heard a but of shuffling around and then JJ's voice came back through the phone. "Hey, sorry, he wanted to say hi. He misses you guys."

"I miss him too, he really is a great kid JJ. You and Will are doing a fantastic job."

"Thank you." JJ said warmly. "Speaking of kids..."

"Jezz, that was a great transition. Subtle and everything." Emily laughed.

"Sorry. I just wanted to see if you wanted to talk about it. If you don't, no problem, but I could tell it was on your mind on the flight home."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes, I am a profiler now Em. That, and I've known you for a long time."

"Yeah, well, you're right. I think...I mean I know I want to meet her. But...I don't know. I'm terrified. What if she hates me? What if she's furious I gave her up? What would I say to her? I just don't know how to go about it, but I feel like if I don't, I will regret it. I mean have regretted it for fifteen years, I don't want to for fifteen more. If there is a chance for her to be in my life, I want it."

"Well, then there you go." JJ said simply.

"How is that there you go? That was nervous ranting. That wasn't anything. I have no plan! I need some sort of plan JJ."

"Well than make one."

"I can't!"

"Then I'll make one for you. Call her social worker. Explain who you are, explain what you want, ask if it is possible to meet her, take it from there. Best to go the legal route first, then if need be, Garcia and I can sneak you to Boston some other way."

Emily couldn't help but grin. God she was lucky to have the people in her life that she did. JJ and Garcia were really the best friends she had ever had. Moving around so much as a child, the only good friends she had ever had were John and Matthew. Then as she was older, she was undercover so much, that actually getting close to anyone was too dangerous. Even at her beginnings at the BAU she had been wary of real friendships outside of work, but JJ and Garcia were relentless. And they – along with the rest of the team – wormed their way into Emily's heart. Now she couldn't imagine life without them. The six months she was 'dead' had been awful, she missed and thought about them all everyday.

"JJ, you're an amazing friend you know that right?"

"I know!" JJ said cheerfully.

"And so modest too." Emily said while smirking, "I'll let you know how things go okay?"

"Sounds good. Have a good afternoon."

"You too. Have fun snuggling with Henry."

"Haha, bye Em."

"Bye JJ." Emily hung up the phone and dragged herself out of the bed. She showered, dressed and went about finding something to eat. As there was nothing in her fridge save a bottle of kastup, some moldy cheese, and something that may have at one point been orange juice, Emily called for take out. While she waited for the pizza delivery, she went about cleaning her apartment. It had gotten rather dusty over the last few weeks. Apartment clean, well fed, and sipping some coffee, Emily lounged around watching Doctor Who on BBC America and avoiding calling Calla's social worker. Once it was about seven at night, Emily groaned and snatched her cell phone. Dialing the number, she paced her living room nervously as the phone rang. "Hello, my name is Emily Prentiss, I believe you are the social worker for a girl named Calla Lily Pierce?"

"Yes?"

"Well, I gave up a child, a daughter, for adoption fifteen years ago, and I believe that girl is Calla."

"I see."

Emily went about explaining the entire situation to the woman – who introduced herself as Dianne Jennings – and the two women talked for almost half an hour. When she finally hung up, Emily let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and quickly dialed JJ's number.

"Hey Em."

"I called her."

"Who?"

"WHO! JJ, the social worker. Dianne Jennings."

"Oh, sorry. Really? Well, how did it go? What did she say?"

"I don't technically have any rights, I gave them up. But I explained the situation, that I was fifteen, that my mother basically forced me into it, that I have regretted it, that I knew her parents had passed away, and that I really just wanted to meet her. She sounded pretty optimistic considering. I told her I would call her back, I need to talk to Hotch and see if I can get a day or two off to go up to Boston."

"Seriously? You can go meet her?"

"Yeah, well, I'm going to meet with Dianne, she's going to talk to Calla, see what she wants I guess. I'm not sure exactly. But JJ...if...I mean would you maybe consider...if I could get the time..."

"You want me to come with you?" JJ asked, easily picking up on what her friend was asking of her.

"Would you?" Emily asked in a small voice.

"Of course I will."

"Have I told you that you are amazing today?"

"Only once so far, hearing it again won't hurt." Emily and JJ laughed, and talked for a few more minutes before hanging up. Emily dialed her phone for the third time that night, and she felt almost as nervous as when she called Dianne Jennings.

"Hotchner." The gruff voice answered.

"Hey Hotch, its Emily."

"Prentiss, what can I do for you?"

"Well, I called...I was wondering if it might be possible to get a day or two off sometime in the near future. For me, and possibly JJ." Emily cursed herself for sounding so weak and nervous. She prided herself on being strong, especially when it came to their unit chief.

"Does this pertain to your child?" Hotch asked softening his voice.

"Yes."

"We just finished a grueling case, I was thinking of taking us of rotation for the next few days anyway, I'll make it official in the morning. Let JJ know."

"Hotch,...thank you." Emily said sincerely.

"I hope it goes well. Here if you need anything."

"Thank you. Have a good night Hotch. Say hi to Jack for me."

"I will, goodnight."

Emily sighed, sent a quick text message to JJ letting her know and then tossed her cell phone onto the couch. Rather than give herself time to worry and procrastinate, she quickly opened up her laptop and went about looking at flights. Through a series of text messages to JJ, they had a flight booked for the next afternoon. Emily was tired, antsy and couldn't think about this anymore without psyching herself out, so she decided to go for a run to clear her head. When she got back she was thoroughly exhausted – exactly as she had hoped she would be – and she quickly showered, ate some more leftover pizza, and went to bed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you very much for the reviews:) It is awesome to hear that people like what I'm writing. I have zero knowledge of adoption/fostering/and the laws surrounding it. I doubt this situation I am creating would be how it would go down, so, just suspended your disbelief please:) Hope you enjoy. **

"Emily stop fidgeting." JJ chided with a laugh as she passed her plane ticket over.

"I can't help it." Emily whispered back.

"People are going to think your a terrorist or something, calm down."

"Oh shut up JJ." JJ laughed and ignored her as they boarded the plane. As they settled into their seats JJ gave Emily's knee a gentle pat to calm her down. This was going to be a long flight. Emily spent the entire time growing more nervous and despite knowing it was bothering her, JJ couldn't help but be a bit amused. Emily was entertaining when she was freaking out. The flight felt longer than it was and by the time they finally landed, got their bags and hailed a cab to their hotel it was almost midnight. JJ and Emily, checked into their room and dragged themselves up to their floor.

"God, I'm tired." Emily stated as they entered the room.

"Me too." JJ said as she sent a quick text to Will letting him know they got in safely.

"Do you mind if I take the bathroom first?" Emily asked.

"No, go for it." As Emily went into the bathroom, JJ dug out her pjs and got dressed. Emily came out looking more haggard than when she went in and JJ gave a small laugh, and pecked her on the cheek as they passed each other. "Get some sleep Em." She said as she went into the bathroom. She quickly relieved herself, brushed her teeth, washed her face and went back to the room. Emily was already passed out in her bed. JJ smiled, turned the light off and climbed into her own bed. "Night Em." She whispered.

* * *

><p>Emily was pacing in the hallway. "Em..." JJ said gently. "We're just watching a dance rehearsal. She doesn't know we're here, we're not gonna talk to her, just watch. You can handle that."<p>

"I know, its just..."

"I know." JJ said taking her arm and guiding her into the theatre. "Let's stick to the back." Emily simply nodded and followed JJ. She sat right on the edge of her seat watching the children stretch, put on dance shoes, and chat at the front of the theatre.

"Do you see her?" She asked JJ nervously.

"No, not yet." JJ said scanning the room. "Dianne said her foster brother usually drops her off at the last minute."

"Right."

"Em...deep breaths. Enjoy the dancing." Emily and JJ sat in the back waiting as some late arrivals came in. "Em!" JJ said holding onto her arm. "There." JJ nodded her head in the direction of the other theatre entrance. A young girl, with dark brown curly hair flying wild came running in. An orange backpack slung over one shoulder and a little short of breath, she quickly closed the distance to the front of the theatre. She had Emily's pale skin, and a dancer's figure. She was shorter than Emily, probably around 5'6", her hair was short, falling just around her shoulders. She dropped her bag and quickly went to put it up into a messy ponytail then dropped to the ground and began tying on a pair of black jazz shoes. She was clad in dance clothes, nude tights, and a black leotard, she tore off her sweatpants quickly and slid on a pair of cotton blue shorts. Yanking off her sweatshirt, she pulled on a purple tank top and ran onto the stage to sit with the rest of the dance class.

"Thank you for gracing us with your presence Calla." The teacher said with a grimace. She didn't actually appear to be angry, but it annoyed Emily just the same.

"Oh my god, its her." Emily whispered.

"Em, she's beautiful." JJ said giving her a smile. Emily returned it but never took her eyes off Calla.

"Alright everyone, we have got a long day ahead of us, our recital is in two weeks and we have got a lot of work to do. We're far from ready. Today I want to focus on group numbers, and tomorrow we will focus on duets, trios and solos. Might as well start at the beginning, so opening number places everyone."

The class stood and many went backstage into the wings. The dance teacher – who Emily and JJ heard was called Cindy – started the music and took her place at the front of the theatre, watching the kids. Emily and JJ watched as small groups each came out and danced a couple of counts. They appeared to be separated by dance type and age, showing off their best moves to start the recital. Calla was in the fourth set; she was grouped with girls who seemed to be a little older than her, and she was wonderful. Emily couldn't tear her eyes off of her. JJ and Emily watched as they preformed the dance, over and over, stopping and starting. Neither woman got bored once. All of the children were very well trained, worked hard, and clearly enjoyed dancing, even when they got things wrong. Proudly, Emily and JJ noticed that Calla was consistently preforming well compared to the other children. There were some other parents, and siblings sitting around the theatre, and one woman came over to talk to Emily and JJ.

"Hi, I'm Karen, Taylor is my daughter. I haven't seen either of you here before, who's yours?" She spat out perkily. Emily could tell right away that this was a woman who's life revolved around her child. She lived vicariously through her, boasted about her, and shot down all other children. She was territorial. And Emily disliked her instantly. She and JJ exchanged a look, and they clearly both came to the same conclusion.

"I'm Emily, this is JJ, we're...friends of Calla's family." Emily said slowly, unsure of what to say.

"Oh, huh. I thought she was an orphan."

"Her parents died yes." Emily said as she mashed her lips together.

"Oh, well, have fun." She said and went back to the other mothers.

"She's delightful." JJ said sarcastically. Emily laughed as they both turned back to watch the rehearsal. The spent the rest of the afternoon in the theatre. Just as she was in the videos, Calla was stunning on stage. She wasn't perfect, she was only fifteen, she made mistakes. But she took them in stride, bit her lip – just like Emily – and pressed on, correcting her mistakes and wowing everyone. By the time rehearsals ended, Emily and JJ had barely registered that so much time had passed. The kids were all tired and sweaty, and went to gather their things and head home. Many of the children's parents were already there, or they clearly were old enough to drive themselves. Calla got her things and stayed back talking to another girl up front. Emily and JJ just watched. A boy entered the theatre next to where Emily and JJ were sitting and yelled out.

"Calla, come on." She looked up, said goodbye to the girl and ran up to the older boy. Emily froze. JJ noticed and quickly placed her arm onto Emily's knee in an attempt to calm her down. "Hurry up!" The boy said impatiently.

"I'm coming." Calla responded, clearly annoyed by him. Calla and the boy left the theatre and Emily watched her go.

"Want to head out?" JJ asked after a minute or two. Emily nodded and stood to follow JJ out. They made their way back to their hotel and spent the rest of the night lounging around their room, eating room service and watching bad tv. JJ decided to leave Emily to her own thoughts, she figured the brunette would talk if she wanted to. They both sat quietly in their bed, both mostly ignoring the television. Emily was staring off, her thoughts who knows where, and JJ spent the night texting Will.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Emily and JJ were set to meet up with Dianne Jennings. Emily had apparently become a person who paced and she did not like it. JJ was simply amused to see her normally calm and stoic friend so frazzled.<p>

"Miss Prentiss?" A redhead woman in her forties asked as she walked into the waiting room.

"Agent." Emily corrected her.

"Sorry, Agent Prentiss, and..." She glanced down at the folder in her hand. "Agent Jareau?" JJ nodded and smiled at her. "Hello, I'm Dianne Jennings, its nice to finally meet you in person. Why don't you follow me?" Emily and JJ stood and followed Dianne into her office. Sitting upright with her back straight Emily faced the woman who could potentially change her life with a brave face. "So, you saw dance rehearsal yesterday?" Emily and JJ both nodded. "You didn't approach her did you?"

"No, you said not to."

"Okay, I have a home visit scheduled for later this afternoon. I'm going to talk to her then and get back to you. I jumped the gun a little bit and sent your information out to undergo background checks. They're a necessary component to anyone hoping to foster or adopt a child, regardless of biological status." She explained. Emily gave a tight nod, bit her lip and waited for her to continue. "I can't promise anything Agent Prentiss. Your single, you travel often, you gave up your rights, and there is the question if she even wants to meet or live with you." JJ moved her hand to Emily's knee as she saw the brunette tense up at that statement. "However, you _are _her biological mother, you are wealthy, you certainly have the means to provide for her, and you have a secure job. Its really a toss up and a lot of it will depend on Calla and what type of judge gets your case and my opinion of you. From what I've seen and you've explained so far, I would say that I am on your side." Emily couldn't help but grin and she visibly relaxed at that information. "It's not going to be easy." Dianne stated quickly. "A lot of it will depend on Calla, but its not impossible."

"Does she...what does she know?" Emily asked.

"About you?" Dianne asked. Emily nodded quickly. "She knows that she was adopted. Her parents never hid that from her. She only knew you were young and not ready to be a mother. I haven't spoken to her yet since I have been in contact with you."

"When...how...where do we go from here?" Emily finally asked. She cursed herself for stumbling over her words so much. She was a freaking linguistic specialist, highly educated, this wasn't giving of the impression that she wanted.

"I will call you as soon as I've spoken to Calla. I have your number, you have mine. Its up to you if you want to extend your stay in Boston longer or not. Even if she does want to meet you, she might not want to right away, sometimes they need a few days, weeks even to get used to the idea." Dianne said. Emily's nervousness didn't seem to faze her one bit, it was very normal for prospective parents. In fact, if they weren't nervous, Dianne worried. The more worried, generally the more they cared. Clearly, this woman cared a great deal.

Emily and JJ shared a look. JJ knew as long as Calla was in Boston, Emily wasn't about to leave anytime soon. She understood completely, if this had been Henry, she would feel the same way. She also knew that Henry was back in Virginia, and she desperately wanted to take advantage of her few days off with him. JJ gave Emily a smile and a reassuring pat.

"I'll be staying a few more days." Emily stated. She squeezed JJ's hand, letting her know that it was fine for her to want to go home. "Please give me a call as soon as you know anything."

"I will. It was nice to meet you both. Have a wonderful afternoon." Dianne said, shaking Emily's hand goodbye.

As Emily and JJ left the building they decided to walk back to the hotel, it wasn't too far and they both wanted the exercise. "Em, I..." JJ began.

Emily cut her off. "Jayje, its fine. We have time off, we never get time off, it was amazing of you to drop everything, get on a flight and watch a dance rehearsal with me. Go home, have fun with Henry. I'll be fine." JJ tilted her head, giving Emily a look. "I promise, I'll be fine." Emily reiterated.

"I'm sending Pen out to meet you." JJ said as she began simultaneously booking a flight and sending a text message to Garcia.

"No!" Emily said forcefully. JJ looked up in confusion. "I'm still a little annoyed with her JJ." Emily admitted.

"Oh."

"I know its stupid...its just..."

"Its fine, she pushed. I love her, but the woman does need to learn boundaries." JJ stuck her head back in her phone, working on finding a flight for that night. She had to trust Emily to not let her walk into anything as they maneuvered their way back to the hotel. As they reached their room, JJ had a flight set for six o'clock that night (four hours from now) and Emily's phone buzzed. JJ smirked at her as she began packing her things.

"What?" Emily laughed. JJ only raised her eyebrows, nodded to Em's phone and continued gathering her things. Emily opened the text message curiously, then broke out into a grin. "Your sending Morgan?" She said with a laugh. JJ only smiled and headed into the bathroom.

* * *

><p>Emily said goodbye to JJ and thanked her over and over again before JJ threatened to pull out her gun. Hugging goodbye, JJ told her to call if Morgan drove her too crazy and JJ would beat him up for her. Emily stuck around the airport attempting to read a novel while she waited for Morgan's flight to land. JJ had booked her own flight home, and his flight in all in one go. The blonde woman really was amazing.<p>

"You and me in Boston, Princess. What kind of trouble are we getting into tonight?" Morgan said with a grin as he sauntered up to Emily. She beamed back and him and gave him a playful smack.

"Any ideas?"

"Oh you know it!"

"Good. Because you have the job of taking my mind of the fact that when this woman calls, my life is either going to really suck, or become really awesome."

"No pressure or anything?" Morgan said sarcastically as he slung his bag over his shoulder and offered Emily his arm.

"Aren't you the gentleman." Emily laughed at him as she took his arm and the two agents made their way to a cab.

"I have my moments."

"That you do Derek Morgan. That you do."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N-Thank you all so much for your reviews! To answer a few questions, I don't think I plan on having any pairings (like romantic wise) I may change my mind, but I don't think so. Its going to be more focused on friendships and Emily/Calla. I do plan on having a JJ/Em scene. Lots of them, I love their friendship. Sorry, its a little short, without further ado...**

Emily burst out laughing. Morgan was squeezed smack dab in the middle of four woman on the dance floor. A very feminine man had just approached them and joined in. Morgan just smiled and continued dancing. His idea to take her mind off things was to head out to various bars and clubs. They had gone to three others that hadn't been – as Morgan put it – hip enough. Currently, they were having a wonderful time in a little Irish pub that had great live music and dancing. Emily had almost forgotten why she was there, until her phone rang and the name Dianne Jennings popped up.

"Hello?" Emily stuck her fingers in one ear and quickly began to maneuver her way outside.

"Agent Prentiss?" Dianne said on the other line.

"Emily, please."

"Emily, I would have called you earlier, but I had a bit of a crisis with one of my other charges. I'm sorry about the late hour."

"Its fine really."

"I visited Calla today. Everything seems alright with her placement. She doesn't seem to connect with them very well, but she had always been like that. I told her about you, she's nervous, but she thinks that she would like to meet you."

"Really?" Emily said barely able to contain her excitement.

"Yes." Dianne replied happily. "I told her that I would need to call you, that you had limited time right now..."

"I can get as much time as she needs." Emily quickly stated.

"I thought you might say as much." Dianne said with a smile. "But its not necessary. She needs some time, she doesn't want to meet you just yet. She's just nervous." Dianne added quickly before Emily could feel offended. "She wants to meet you, but she wants to call you when she is ready."

"So..."

"So, I would recommend you go home Agent Prentiss, and when she is ready she will let me know and I will call you to set it up. I know its probably not what you would have wanted, but I can't force anything on her."

"No..I..I understand. That's, that's okay. Would it maybe...could I maybe write her a letter for you to give her before I leave?"

"That would be fine."

"Alright, thank you very much for everything Dianne." Emily said sincerely.

"You're very welcome. I'll call you as soon as I know anything."

"Thank you."

"Goodbye Emily."

Emily hung up the phone and did everything she could not to cry. It was disappointing, but at least Calla hadn't said no, just not yet. Somehow, it felt just as bad. Knowing she _could _meet her anytime, but who knows when, was almost more torment that if she had just said no outright. Then at least the waiting, wondering, would all be over. She stood up straight and wiped away the few stray tears that had fallen down her face. Taking a deep breath, she clutched the phone in her hand and went back into the pub. She politely pushed her way through the crowd and found Morgan.

"Hey Princess." He greeted her with a smile. "Where'd you run off too?"

"She called."

"What! And?" Morgan asked excitedly. The two agents moved away from the center of the dance floor and Morgan leaned it to hear Emily better.

"She's not ready to meet me yet. She wants to, but not now. Dianne said to go home and she'll call." Emily tried, but she couldn't hide her disappointment. Morgan's face fell and he rubbed her arm gently.

"I'm sorry Em."

"Yeah, its okay." Emily said softly. "I'm just sorry you flew all the way out here."

"Hey, I had fun! Vacation right?"

"Yeah." Emily said giving a half laugh. "Sorta. Do you mind if we catch the next flight home though? I really don't want to be here anymore."

"Not at all Princess. Lets head out, its late anyway, we'll catch a flight in the morning."

"Thanks Derek."

"Anything for you." Morgan said giving her a wink.

"You better not let Garcia hear you say that." Emily said with a smile.

"Haha!" Morgan laughed. Emily and Morgan gathered their things and headed back to their hotel. Too tired to do anything else, Emily said goodnight to Morgan and collapsed into her bed. Sleep didn't come as easily as she hoped and she spent most of the night tossing and turning. Somewhere around four am, she gave up and turned the tv on, but that only made her feel worse. Attempting to read wasn't any better so she simply began packing her things, and reading through some of the files she had brought along with her. After a while she sat down with a pen and paper and wrote out a letter to Calla. Finally, around seven am she fell asleep but even that was short lived when Morgan came to get her around nine. "Sorry Princess, flight's in an hour."

"S'ok. I'm all packed. Couldn't sleep."

"Well, we still got a day off when we get back." Morgan said with a grin.

"Yeah, brilliant." Emily said sarcastically. Emily and Morgan made their way – slowly – through security and finally boarded their flight. They had dropped off the letter before going to the airport. The flight was nothing interesting. Take off, crying children, uncomfortable seats, lack of sleep, and landing. By the time they finally got their bags and hailed a cab, Emily was so beyond exhausted, she almost let Morgan carry her up to her door. "Thank you for everything Morgan." She said as he dropped her off.

"No problem. Call if you need anything else, otherwise, see ya on monday."

"Have a good day off." Emily called back to him as he entered the cab.

Emily gratefully fell asleep the second her head hit the pillow. Nothing about it felt restful however, as she had nightmares the entire time. They were of old cases that had already been solved, but this time, Calla was almost always the victim. Emily never made it to her. She screamed, fought hard, but each time she thought she reached Calla, another unsub would come. First Frank, then Foyett, then Doyle, one after another. She saw Frank drag Calla in front of the train along with Jane, Foyett shooting Calla along with Haley, and Doyle torturing Calla with Declan. That, she saw over and over again. He took great pleasure 'getting back at her' hurting her child for hurting his. She woke up for good sometime around ten am, sweaty and shaking. She crawled out of bed and went about her day. Nightmares or not, the sleep did help a bit and she felt better than she had the day before. Having nothing to do was driving her crazy; she cooked breakfast, cleaned her entire house from top to bottom, did all the laundry she could find, and it was only two in the afternoon. Emily donned athletic clothes, and headed out for a run. She pushed herself harder and harder and went almost an three hours away from home. She was too tired to even walk home, so she sat on a bench and people watched in a park for a good hour.

"Are you okay?" A young boy of about thirteen asked her when she had been there almost forty minutes. He had on a helmet and a skateboard in his hands.

"Yeah." Emily said nodding. "I'm fine. Just tired."

"You look sad." The boy stated simply.

"Yeah...well, I kinda am I guess. But I'm fine."

"Just not now." The boy said.

"Huh?"

"You'll be fine, but you're not now. That's what my mom says sometimes." He said with a shrug.

"Yeah. You're probably right."

"Hope you get fine soon." He said as he stepped onto his skateboard.

"Thanks." Emily said giving him a smile. He waved and skated off. Emily stood up after a minute and began a slight jog back to her apartment. It took much longer to get home than it had to leave, but for that, Emily was grateful. She needed time to just pass. She needed it to be tomorrow, she needed a case, something, anything to focus on besides her daughter.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N- I am so happy that you guys are liking this story:) It means a lot. I hope you continue to enjoy it. **

Emily had been working on autopilot for the last week. She woke up, went to work, invested all her attention and focus onto their cases, went home, drank wine, ate food, and did her best to get some sleep. The team paid attention to her, but no one brought up Calla. Everyone knew that if Emily wanted to talk about her, she would. And she had, only twice, once to JJ and once to Hotch. Somehow, the other parents were the only ones she could get some sort of comfort from. She was grateful that the cases seemed to be piling up, which in turn made her feel guilty. She was just happy that none of the victims in anyway resembled Calla. Emily realized that she had been drinking a little more wine that usual, and she decided to call Garcia to help cheer herself up.

"Hello my dear! What can I do for you this fine Wednesday night?"

"I need to get out. Or something, anything, please tell me your free and rack that brain of yours."

"Oh my dear, say no more. Dress to impress, I will call Derek, we will be over in twenty!"

"Okay sounds good. I'll see if Reid wants to come too."

"Its a date!" Emily hung up the phone and made herself get off of the couch and out of her sweatpants. Knowing Garcia wouldn't stand for anything that wasn't a little bit slinky, she chose a rather low cut black top and some of her nicer jeans. Morgan, Reid and Garcia greeted her at the door. Morgan whistled, Reid blushed, and Garcia smiled approvingly. "You look wonderful." She said with a smile. Garcia reached out and linked her arm with Emily's, telling the boys to follow and the foursome made their way down the street. It was getting colder, but they had decided to walk anyway. "This club is supposed to be really fun, live music and such. Its small, so it won't be too loud and wild, but its getting a lot of buzz."

"Sounds good."

"Hey Em?" Garcia asked softly a minute or two later. "Are we good?"

"Yeah Penelope." Emily said with a sincere smile. "We're good."

"Good." Garcia said causing them both to laugh. She gave her a small hug and then the four went into the club. It was just what Emily had needed. They danced, Morgan and Garcia even got up and sang a duet, per a dare from Emily and Reid, and Emily found herself having a great time. Life was finally getting back to normal. Doyle was caught, the team wasn't being scrutinized anymore, Strauss seemed to be on their side now – at least for the time being – Reid and JJ had made up, and Emily really wasn't annoyed with Garcia anymore. They had been solving case after case with relative speed, the family was solid again. Despite that, there was something missing. When she returned home it was late, but Emily decided she needed to make the call. Digging through her contacts, she found the number and hit send. Anxiously, she bit her thumb and paced her living room as it rang.

"Hello?" A voice answered.

"Hi." She said softly. "Its me."

"Hey."

"How are you?"

"I'm alright, can't complain I guess, you?"

"I'm...I've been better. But I'm fine."

"Fucked up, insecure, neurotic and emotional?"

Emily laughed. "Yeah, that one."

"Yeah, been there." There was a pause where neither knew what to say, finally, Emily caved.

"I saw her John." He was silent on the other line. "A few weeks ago. I met with her social worker, JJ went with me. You remember JJ right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, we watched her dance. I didn't meet her, but I saw her. She's...well, she's kind of stunning. She looks like..."

"Em, why are you telling me this?" He asked. Emily knew that voice. It was one she and Matthew always didn't their best to avoid. John was quick tempered, and this voice was usually the first sign.

"Because of all the people in my life I figured you would be the only one who would understand." Emily said softly.

"Well, I don't. I don't think about it Em. It happened and its over."

"How can you possibly say that? I don't believe you for a second. You can't not think about her. She's your child John. Aren't you the least bit curious? She's got your eyes. Blue with a bit of green. They fit her."

"Why are you doing this to yourself?"

"John, her parents died. She's in foster care, she knows I want to meet her, when she's ready, she's going to call. I wanted to extend that invitation to you I guess, or at least let you know. I want her. I want to know her, to be in her life."

"I don't Em. I can't."

"John..."

"No, Em I mean it. I can't do it." He sighed. "But you can. You'll be great. You always were. Matty and I always told you not to listen to your mother. You can do anything, and if this is what you want, well, it'll be great, but...I can't. Please respect that."

"If I get her and she asks about you what would you like me to say? Would you at least want to see her?"

"I don't think so. Tell her, that I left her in good hands, that fatherhood was never going to be something I was good at. Certainly not at fifteen, and not now. But, I don't regret it Em. Let her know that I guess."

"Okay." Emily said in a small voice. She could feel tears coming on.

"Em..."

"Yeah?"

"You'll be fine. Not fucked up fine, actual fine."

"I know. You will too."

"I hope you get her."

"Thanks. So do I."

"Bye Em."

"Bye." Emily said to an already dead line. She tossed the phone down onto her couch, went upstairs and cried herself to sleep.

* * *

><p>"Nothing about this seems like a sexual sadist. It doesn't make any sense." Reid said, frusturated. Emily gave his back a small pat as she moved to sit down next to him. Three days later, the team was in Seattle and they were having no luck whatsoever cracking their current case. Three men were already dead and there wasn't a single connection between them that anyone could find. Emily glanced over at Rossi, equally frusturated.<p>

"Everyone, take five, get a coffee, eat something, then get back here. We all just need a minute. Don't discus the case." Hotch said as he left the room. Emily stood and followed him. They made their way over to the coffee in the middle of the police station. Hotch began pouring cups.

"This is.." Emily started.

"Not about the case." Hotch warned. "Just, for a few minutes."

"Right, sorry."

"Its fine."

"So...how's Jack?" Emily asked, her mind still very focused on the case.

"Honestly, I think he's getting picked on a little bit."

"What?" Emily asked, concerned for her friend. She had Hotch had a complicated relationship. They has started off on a rather horrible foot. He hadn't trusted her, she had been out to prove herself and his dismissal of her hurt deeply. It took a long time for them to gain some mutual trust, but once they did, once Emily stuck up to Strauss for him, they had become close. Neither ever mentioned it anymore, they just connected, they understood each other. Both were very private, not one to show emotions if possible, and cared deeply for those they loved. Emily was extremely grateful to consider Hotch a friend. She had helped out as much as she could after Haley's death, the whole team had. Once, she and Morgan had taken Jack for the afternoon to "babysit" and that was an event to say the least. Jack was a great kid, Emily felt horrible to know he was getting picked on in school. The poor boy had been through more than enough. "What makes you think that?" Emily asked as she sipped her coffee.

"He's quiet about it, never wants to talk about school, doesn't mention his friends much, and his teacher called me. Apparently this older boy has been teasing him at recess, and some of the younger boys have started to as well."

"God, kids are evil." Emily said with a groan. "Elementary school is the worst. I got picked on too. We moved so much, I was always the new kid. Plus I had to learn the language! So they could say things and I wouldn't even know if they were being nice or mean." Hotch gave a tiny sympathetic smile. "Hotch, anyway I can help, let me know?" He nodded in thanks.

"Lets, just finish this." He nodded back towards the conference room they had been working out of. He and Emily made their way back in, getting JJ and Reid with them. Morgan and Rossi never left the room, but had actually taken Hotch's advice and not talked about the case. "Alright..." Hotch started as everyone got comfortable in their seats. "Let's go over what we know again."

The team began listing off the information they had on the three victims so far. It wasn't much. But they sat in that room and analyzed it all, over and over again until something clicked. Emily and Morgan headed out to question the second victim's father again. There was something about his previous statement that didn't quite make sense. Reid's hunch had been right. As they pulled up to the small house, they found the front door ajar. Taking the lead, Morgan walked in slowly clearing the room. Emily was right behind him, but just a second too late as she turned and felt something very, very hard connect with her head. Emily went down, and she went down hard.

"Fuck." Emily moaned as she tried to get her bearings straight. She heard shuffling and a struggle. Morgan yelling and the victim's father cursing up a storm. Emily tried to find her gun and to sit up, but she was too dizzy and she fell back down. "Derek." She moaned.

"I got him. Stay there! I got him." Emily heard him slap handcuffs on the man as she struggled to sit. "This is Agent Morgan, we need backup. We got one agent down, blow to the head. Emily, sit back and quit moving! We're at 67 North st. Get your asses over here!" The next thing Emily knew, Morgan was over her, holding her back down and gently checking out her head. "Princess, cut it out, you took a hunk or wood to the head. I am so sorry, I didn't see him."

"S'not your fault." Emily groaned.

"Quit talking, just relax."

"Where's..."

"Handcuffed to the door and knocked out. Its him, Reid was right, we got him."

"Fucking whacked me with a hunk of wood!"

Morgan laughed. "Yeah Princess. So sit still. JJ and Garcia will have my ass if I let you get hurt anymore."

Emily tried to laugh, but it just made her head scream out in pain. Morgan held her down again as she tried for a third time to get up. Finally, the paramedics and team arrived. Hotch and JJ insisted on Emily getting her head checked out – much to her protests that she was fine.

"Why do you always get hit in the head?" JJ asked as a paramedic dressed her wound in the back of the ambulance.

"Yeah, cause I go out of my way to make this happen. I figured, life doesn't suck enough, why don't I encourage someone to whack me over the head with some wood?"

JJ laughed and rubbed Emily's shoulder gently. "Is she gonna be okay?" JJ asked the paramedic. He nodded to the blonde and gave a gentle smile to Emily.

"Your gonna need to take it easy. No alcohol, don't go on any jogs, and you really should go to the hospital, you've got a concussion."

"Yeah, I've had one before, I know the drill."

"Em, your gonna need someone to wake you up like every hour." JJ stated. Emily was beginning to protest, but JJ wasn't having any of it. Hotch was clearly the boss, but really, the team listened to JJ. Maybe because she was a mother, but then, she'd had that quality before she got pregnant, it was just her. JJ was not someone you ignored. Emily knew from experience – it was always better to just comply with her. Emily sighed in defeat. "Look, I can..." JJ began.

"No. JJ we just finished a case. Go home to Will and Henry I can't ask you that."

"No, its not a..."

Reid walked up behind them and cut JJ off. "I can stay with you tonight if you want Emily." He said in a soft voice. JJ looked gratefully at him. She would have stayed with Emily in an instant, but she would be lying if she said she didn't want to go home and hug Henry.

"Thanks Reid, you don't have to..."

"Emily, someone is staying with you. And that someone is Reid, now, lets go home." JJ said with finality and then walked off to find Hotch. Reid gave Emily a small smirk as they watched JJ go.

"I guess, that's that." He said with a laugh.

* * *

><p>Emily and Reid shuffled through the apartment, both were tired. Thankfully, the jet ride hadn't taken very long, it was dinnertime and they had called for take out on the drive home. The two lounged on the couch watching some russian film Reid had brought and stuffed themselves with pizza. If Emily was honest with herself, she was glad Reid had come home with her. The two of them hadn't had much time to just hang out, the two of them in a while. She had been 'dead', then he had been pissed at her, then she had been moody and depressed, she forgot how much she missed him. She could be a nerd with Reid, just goofy and hang out.<p>

"Did you know that this folk tale originated back in..."

"Reid..." Emily cut him off as her phone rang. Groaning as she tried to sit up and answer it Reid turned his attention back to the film. "Hello?" She answered without looking at the caller id.

"Agent Prentiss? Its Dianne Jennings." Emily stopped breathing. Reid noticed her reaction and looked up at her in questioning. She got herself together and waved him off.

"Hello." She said as calmly as she could. "How...how can I help you?"

Dianne laughed on the other line. "Agent..."

"Emily." She reminded her.

"Sorry, Emily. I spoke to Calla earlier today, she said she's ready. She would like to meet you."

Emily definitely wasn't breathing now. Her head was throbbing, and she was getting dizzy. Quickly she sat down and tried to collect herself. "Really?" She asked in a tiny voice. She could feel Reid watching her with concern from the couch, but she couldn't look at him.

"Yes, really. Are you still interested?"

"Yes! Yes!" Emily said quickly. She could hear Dianne laughing at her enthusiasm.

"Great. Are you on a case? When are you free?"

"We just finished one actually so, I mean I would have to check with my boss, but I don't think it would be a problem. When is good for her?"

"She was hoping for sooner rather than later. This weekend perhaps?"

"Yes! Yes I can do that."

"Great. Well, call your boss, get everything squared away, and text me when you've got it all sorted and we'll make an official plan. Oh, and you have passed all of your background checks. So that step is set as well."

"Really?"

"Yes Emily. This is good. Smile and breathe."

"Thank you." Emily said sincerely.

"You are very welcome. I look forward to seeing you."

"You too. Have a wonderful night." Emily said, her manners coming back to her. She hung up and sat perfectly still for a moment before Reid finally got her attention.

"Emily?" He asked gently. "What is it?"

"I get to meet her." She said softly. "Holy shit, I'm going to meet my daughter." Emily beamed at Reid. He broke into a grin as she jumped uncharacteristically out of her seat. "Oh my god, I've got to call Hotch, I've got to book a flight, I've got to get a hotel room. I...I should get her something shouldn't I? Like a present? Shit, I have no idea what she likes. I don't know her Reid! What if she hates me? What if it goes horribly? What if? Oh my god my head." Emily said melting back into the seat and clutching her head in pain.

"You're rambling. And you have a concussion. You need to sit still." Reid said as he tried to comfort her. He wasn't doing a very good job. Comfort wasn't his strong suit. Awkwardly, he gave Emily a small pat on the arm, it came off like petting an animal, and made them both laugh.

"Thanks Reid."

"Anytime." He said with a smile. "You'll be fine Emily."

"How do you know?"

"Because you're Emily and its impossible not to love you." He said simply.

"Reid..." Emily said as she smiled. "That's...come here." Emily wrapped Reid up into a hug and tried not to cry. "You know, you're wrong."

"About what?"

"You are good at comforting people."

Reid broke into a childlike grin.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N – And they meet! Hope you enjoy. Thank you so much for your comments.**

Emily had bitten her fingernails practically down to stubs. Currently, she was chewing on her thumb and pacing back and forth. Hotch had given her permission to have a few days off, Reid had helped her book a flight and hotel – she had gotten dizzy again and needed to lie down. He stayed with her that night, waking her up every hour and taken her to the hospital the next morning. She had been cleared by her doctor to travel – after it was made very clear she wouldn't be taking no for an answer – and given some pain reliever to take with her. Luckily, her concussion was a mild one, and it was her only injury, so as long as she didn't move around too much for long periods at a time, she mostly felt fine. He told her to try not to drink too much coffee, and no alcohol for the next few days, but she was fine with that. JJ had called her and helped her calm down as she waited for her flight. Emily had been nervous and agitated through the entire flight, checking into her hotel, and as Dianne called her. They had agreed to meet after Calla's morning dance class. Emily was in front of the studio, dressed casually, nervously pacing back and forth.

"Emily!" Dianne called as she walked up to the studio. "Hello."

"Hello, sorry, I'm a little early." She said as she shook Dianne's hand.

"That's fine." She gave Emily a reassuring smile. "Are you nervous?"

"Terrified." Emily said giving a nervous laugh.

"I'd be worried about you if you weren't. Relax, take a deep breath, it'll be fine. Just talk to her, be yourself. I've known her for a long time, and after meeting you a couple of times, you guys will get along, trust me."

Emily smiled, but the words only slightly comforted her. She didn't think she was going to relax anytime soon. Digging back to her childhood, she stood up straight, set her face, and remembered everything her mother taught her about how to appear in public. The studio door burst open and chatting girls and boys came out clad in dance clothes and headed out to their cars. Emily took a deep breath and braced herself. She felt Dianne's hand give her arm a gentle pat and smiled at her. Calla walked out talking to a tall blonde girl. She had pulled on some sweatpants over her leotard and tights and her hair was falling adorably out of her bun. She saw Dianne and said goodbye to the girl as she walked over to them.

Calla quickly made eye contact with Emily then turned her attention to the redheaded woman. "Hi." She said softly. Calla placed herself almost slightly behind Dianne, turned towards Emily, but not looking at her face. She shyly kept her gaze around Emily's stomach or Dianne's face.

"Hi Calla, how was class?" Dianne said cheerfully.

"Good." Calla answered quietly.

"Calla, this is Agent Emily Prentiss, Emily, this is Calla."

"Hi Calla." Emily said bending down to her slightly. She beamed at her and held out her hand for Calla to shake. The young girl took it nervously, her eyes making contact with Emily, then glancing away again. "Its very nice to meet you." She said sincerely. Calla smiled to herself a little, which Emily found to be completely adorable.

"Hi." Calla whispered back, fidgeting with her dance bag.

"I was thinking we could all go get something to eat? How does that sound Calla? Are you hungry?" Dianne asked. Calla just nodded.

"That sounds good." Emily said, smiling gratefully at Dianne.

"There's a little deli around the corner I've taken Calla to before, how does that sound?"

"Good." Calla whispered.

"That sounds great." Emily said. Dianne placed her hand on the small of Calla's back and gave her a tiny shove forward. The teenager clutched her bag and walked ahead, keeping herself closer to Dianne than Emily. She kept glancing up at Emily and then looking away quickly as they walked. Emily caught her almost every time – she was doing almost the exact same thing – and every time, she gave Calla a gentle smile. Dianne chatted away about this and that in Boston, different stores they were passing, making small talk to calm both of them down. They were very grateful that she was with them for this first meeting. As they reached the deli, they decided to eat at a booth in the back corner by the window. As they placed their orders Calla played nervously with her bag and shuffled her weight from one foot to the other. Emily glanced down and saw that she was tap dancing without knowing it. She had to bite back a laugh and turn her attention back to the woman behind the counter. Their orders placed, Calla excused herself to go use the restroom.

"You're doing fine." Dianne said gently as Emily watched her go.

She gave a nervous laugh – something she seemed to be doing a lot of today – and turned back to Dianne. "Yeah?"

"Yes. She's just as nervous as you are, relax. I wanted to take her somewhere she was familiar with. As much as I want you comfortable, my job is to make sure she is okay."

"I understand, I want her to be okay too. I'd rather have her be comfortable than me."

A waitress came and brought them their sandwiches. A moment later, Calla came back from the restroom. She had taken her hair down, it was messy and falling all around her shoulders, Emily loved it. Still clad in sweats she shuffled back into her side of the booth and dug in without saying anything. Emily watched as she pulled one leg up around her and ate two french fries before eating her turkey sub.

"How many dances are you in for the recital again Calla?" Dianne asked her as the three of them ate their lunch.

"Six, not counting opening number and the finale."

"Wow, that's a lot." Emily said with a smile. "What kind of dance do you do?"

"Tap, jazz, ballet, contemporary, hip hop, irish and a little ballroom." Calla said to her sandwich rather than Emily's face.

"When did you start?"

"When I was three. My mom danced." Calla hesitated. "My adoptive mom." She added with a tight voice. Emily swallowed nervously, but smiled at her, letting Calla know it was okay to talk about them. Calla looked back down at her food.

"What styles of ballroom? I can waltz, but not well. Same with ballet. My mom said it was necessary, but I was never any good at it. Nowhere near as good as you."

"You saw me dance?" Calla said looking up at Emily questioningly. Emily nodded. "When?"

"My friend found some videos your studio uploaded on the internet, and when I came to meet with Dianne a few weeks ago, my friend and I watched one of your rehearsals. You were amazing."

Calla couldn't help but smile proudly as she glanced back down to her food. "Thanks." She whispered shyly.

The three women spent the rest of lunch making nervous small talk for the most part. Emily and Calla both began to relax a bit as time went on. Dianne prompted Calla less and less, and Emily mostly took over asking questions. Calla never quite seemed to ask many of her own, choosing mostly to just answer Emily's, but she made eye contact more often, and no longer whispered. Emily didn't make her feel nervous anymore, not really anyway. By the time they had finished, it was around 1:30pm. Dianne had been sitting back, simply watching the two brunettes converse for almost fifteen minutes, she decided it was time.

"Well, I have got a meeting in about half an hour, so I should get going. Do you two think you'll be alright on your own? Emily and I spoke earlier, and she will get a cab for you to get home later Calla. Is that alright with you?" Dianne wanted this to work, but she wasn't about to force a kid into something she wasn't ready for or didn't want. Calla looked up at her in a panic for a minute, but than glanced at Emily. Emily was calm, she smiled at Calla and it worked – the panic in Calla's face seized a little.

"Okay." She answered Dianne.

"Great. You two have a wonderful afternoon, call me if you need anything, otherwise I'll talk to you both tomorrow." Dianne gave Calla a pat on the head and smiled goodbye to Emily as she left the deli. Calla and Emily both looked at each other, Emily figured she was the adult, she needed to take the lead.

"Is there anything else you want?" Emily asked.

"No, I'm full."

"Okay." Emily wished she knew more places in Boston. She had only been there a few times and didn't know the city very well. "Is there anywhere you have to be today?"

"No, I just had dance."

"Do you want to change out of your dance clothes?"

"Nah, there comfortable, I'm used to them."

"Oh, okay." They seemed to be at an awkward pause. The conversation had been going well while Dianne was here, but now that that buffer was gone, both seemed to be at a loss for words. "Do you want to just go for a walk? See where we end up?" Emily suggested.

"Sure." Emily and Calla stood up, gathered their things and headed out of the deli. They walked side by side down the street in silence. Both of them kept glancing at each other than away over and over again. "Did you mean all that stuff in your letter? That was all true?" Calla finally spit out after about five minutes.

"Oh, you got it?" Calla nodded. "Good. Um...yeah, all of that was true. Is there anything you want to talk about? Do you have any questions?"

"Sorta."

"Well, Calla, you can ask me anything." Emily said, making sure that Calla's eye met hers. She saw Calla nod and brace herself just like Emily knew she did.

"Wanna go to the park? Its just up here a bit. I go there sometimes on the weekends."

"That sounds great."

The two brunettes walked in silence into the park. Calla took the lead and wandered over to the side of the park that looked relatively unused. Emily followed her curiously as she went to a large bush. Not pausing, Calla moved aside part of it to reveal a small hole in the bush. Turning back to grin at Emily, she climbed through without a word. Shocked, Emily hesitated and looked back around the park. "Are you coming or not?" Calla's voice called back to her.

"I don't think I'll fit."

"You will too. You're not that much bigger than me." Calla called back.

"I am too!" Emily protested, while laughing. She could hear Calla laughing from the other side and next thing she knew, her head stuck back through the hole.

"I'll pull you if you get stuck, come on." And with that, Calla pulled herself back through and waited for Emily. Groaning slightly, Emily bent down and half crawled, half waddled her way through. She didn't get stuck, but she got a few twigs and leaves in her hair – much to Calla's entertainment as she saw Emily. Without hesitating, Calla reached up and pulled them out of Emily's hair laughing until she realized they weren't that comfortable with each other yet. She quickly retracted her hand and bit her bottom lip. "Over here." She said quietly as she looked away from Emily. They made their way to a small bench under a tree and sat down.

"Is this part of the park?" Emily asked as she looked around. The weather was cold, and she was very happy that she had brought a warm jacket. She wished that she had gloves and a hat however. It wasn't winter yet, but it was definitely coming any day now. Calla nodded and tucked her knees up into herself to keep warm. She had a coat, but not a very thick one, Emily was a little worried. She wouldn't let them stay outside too long.

"Its not really used though. They set up the bushes and most people forgot about this part. That's why I like it. Its kinda like The Secret Garden or something. I live a couple of blocks from here. I came here all the time this summer."

"Its beautiful." Emily said as she took it all in. They sat quietly – but for the first time today, not uncomfortably – for a few minutes and simply took in the view. The trees still had colorful leaves, many of them had fallen, but it was still this tiny little place full of overgrown beauty. Emily could see Calla fidgeting and she was about to start the conversation again, but Calla beat her to it.

"So...you had me when you were sixteen." Calla said, it was more of a statement than a question, but clearly, Calla meant for Emily to explain now. She had written everything in the letter, but she had a feeling they would be talking about it.

Emily nodded, sighed and turned to face Calla. She was prepared to answer anything Calla wanted to know, no matter how uncomfortable or awkward it made her. Calla deserved that. "Yes."

"We're you...I mean, you didn't really mention my dad."

"No, I didn't know what he would want me to say. But I've talked to him since. I'll tell you anything you want to know."

"Was he your boyfriend?"

"For a little while." Rather than wait for Calla to ask each question, Emily decided to just dive in and explain it all. "I told you a bit of this in the letter, but I moved a lot as a kid. My mother was a diplomat and we lived in many different countries. I was born in Portugal, I lived in Russia, the Middle East, France, the States, Italy, and then the States again. It was hard to make friends. My parents were always working, I was more of a requirement than someone who was actually wanted. I'm a bit of a nerd, I got picked on a little, always the new kid, didn't always know the language right away, making friends was hard. By the time we moved to Italy...well, I met John and Matthew and they were the first real friends I ever had. John and I started dating, but...its hard to explain."

"I'm fifteen, I know what teenage boys are like." Calla explained knowingly. Emily felt herself stiffen at her words. She was fully aware that Calla was a teenager, but hearing from her that she was practically the same age Emily was when she got pregnant, and speaking so cavalierly about teenage boys and sex made Emily feel like vomiting. Calla noticed her reaction and smirked. "I'm a virgin." Emily stared at her in what probably looked like a mixture of horror and relief. Relief at her words, but horror of talking to her teenage daughter that she just met about sex. Calla just laughed again. "I figured you would ask at some point considering my birth." Emily just nodded. They were both quiet for a minute or two before Emily began speaking again.

"Well, I'll tell you as much as you want to know if you ask, but in the simplest terms; he wanted it more than I did, and I didn't want to lose my friends. I thought if I said no, he wouldn't want to date me anymore. And I thought that Matthew would take his side, I couldn't bear to lose both of them. It was unbelievable stupid. Matthew took my side as soon as he knew, he got into a huge fight with John actually."

"Did he like you?"

"Who? Matthew?" Calla nodded. "Oh god no. We were just really good friends."

"So John is my father?"

"Yes."

"So, you guys decided to give me up."

"My mother decided." Emily wanted to make that point very clear. "She made it seem like the only real option. In a way, I agreed with her, I was a child, I was a mess, I wasn't ready to be a mother, John certainly wasn't ready to be a father. But, I wish I had stood up to her, because I have regretted it since they took you away."

"Really?" Calla asked in a tiny voice.

"Every single say." Emily said forcefully. They both grew quiet again, Calla shivered into herself and Emily decided they needed to get somewhere more warm. "We should get inside. Its too cold to stay out here dressed like this." Calla nodded and stood up with Emily. "Is there anywhere you want to go?" Calla shook her head. Emily was unsure, but she figured they would just get out of the park and then take it from there. The brunettes crawled out of the little bush hole and made their way through the actual park. There were a couple of families and couples around and both women watched them as they walked out. "Do you drink coffee yet?" Emily asked.

"Sometimes."

"Would you like to go to a cafe? Warm up?"

"Sure." They walked on quietly again. Emily was frustrated, but she expected this. They didn't know each other, people can't just instantly be comfortable, not in situations like this. It bothered her though, she found herself itching to touch Calla. Hold her hand, warp her up in a hug, brush her hair back, some physical connection, but she didn't want to scare her. They ordered, Emily just got regular coffee, Calla opted for hot chocolate, and sat down in a corner again. Calla bit her thumb at the same time as Emily and they both began to laugh at each other. The laughter helped to dissolve a bit of the nervous tension and it seemed like they were ready to continue talking.

"What were your parents like?" Emily asked softly as the laughter died down.

"I don't remember too much." Calla said sadly. "I remember being happy. They made me happy, they laughed a lot. Everyone said they loved each other and me. But I don't really remember."

"I was told they were great people who loved you a lot."

Calla looked up shocked. "That doesn't make you mad?"

Emily looked equally shocked, but quickly recovered. "Not at all. It makes me happy that you were taken care of and loved." They both sipped their beverages for a moment or two before Emily decided to start asking Calla questions. "So, what has your life been like since you've been in foster care?"

Calla shrugged. Emily waited for her to speak. Looking down into her hot chocolate, Calla finally did. "Alright I guess. Moved a lot, nobody hit me or anything, so it was fine." Calla noticed Emily stiffen at the mention of abuse and she looked up at her. "Do you really catch serial killers?"

"Yes. I work in the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. My team and I study the behavior of people and conduct profiles to give to the local police."

"What do you mean profile?"

"For example, we would study victimology, or find out what the victims have in common, by figuring out why the unsub, or unknown subject, chose to hurt them, we can figure out more about who the unsub is, where he or she lives, what they would do, and it helps us find them quicker."

"Oh, that makes sense I guess. Is it scary?"

"Sometimes."

"Do you have a gun?"

"Yes."

"Can I see it?"

"I didn't bring it."

"Oh. Do you have a badge?" Emily nodded. "Can I see it?" Emily reached back into her pocket and dug it out, handing it over to the teenager. She opened it gently and studied it cautiously, running her fingers over the picture. Emily smiled and sipped her coffee as she watched her. "Do you like it?"

"My job?" Calla nodded. "Yes, I do. Its hard, there are times when I genuinely wonder why I chose this, why I surround myself with horror, its hard to have a life. I travel a lot, its hard to make friends and relationships outside of work." Emily paused, took a sip of her coffee and locked eyes with Calla. She was still holding her badge. "But, when you see the result, when you know that you have stopped someone from hurting countless people, when you see families and friends reunited safely...well, it makes it worth it."

"You're like a hero." Calla said simply. Emily looked at her, completely shocked in the simplistic honestly of her words. Only a child could say something that simply and have it mean so much. Calla wasn't even looking at Emily, she was reading off bits of the badge. She passed it back over and took a sip of her hot chocolate before even making eye contact with Emily. "What?" She asked confused by the look on Emily's face. "Is something wrong?"

"N..no." Emily stuttered a little as she gained her composure. "No, every thing's kind of perfect." Calla smiled and they both finished off their beverages in silence, each consumed by their own thoughts.

"What happens now?" Calla asked quietly without looking at Emily.

Emily licked her lips and looked at her daughter. "That's actually up to you I think. I...I would like you to live with me...if...if you want. I've spoken to Dianne about it, I think its mostly up to the courts and you. As far as Dianne has said, it has more to do with what you think about it. Since I am your biological mother, and I was only sixteen, and it was more my mother's idea than mine, and your in foster care, it shouldn't be too hard if its something you want." Emily worked very hard to keep eye contact with Calla, to make sure she knew that Emily wanted her. Calla became increasingly nervous and fidgety, but was clearly absorbing every word.

"But you just met me today." Calla whispered into her empty cup. "How could you know you would want me?"

Emily ignored the voice inside her head telling her not to scare Calla, and instead listened to the one that said, comfort your child. She reached out across the table and took Calla's hand in hers. Calla looked up and Emily could see her eyes welling up a bit, Emily could feel her own doing the same. "Because I have wanted you since the moment I met you fifteen years ago." They held the eye contact for a few seconds before Calla looked back down – but did not pull her hand back.

"Can I think about it?" She whispered. It gutted Emily, but she didn't expect to come meet her, and bring her home right away. She just never expected the rejection to sting so much. Biting back her tears she nodded.

"Of course. I didn't mean to spring anything on you. I just wanted you to know."

"Okay."

"Should we get you back home? You're probably sick of those dance clothes."

"Yeah, okay." The two brunettes walked out of the cafe and Emily hailed a cab. Calla told him her address and they were both quiet for the duration of the short ride. As they pulled up to Calla's foster home, she climbed out quickly and then bent back to look at Emily. "Umm." She began.

"Would you like to do something again tomorrow?" Emily asked hopefully. Calla nodded and smiled shyly.

"What's your phone number?" She asked. Emily pulled out a card with her number on it and handed it over to Calla.

"Call me whenever, we can do whatever you want. I have a few days off. I can pick you up, anything you need okay?" Calla nodded. "Don't hesitate to call, even if its just to talk or something okay?" Calla nodded again and smiled at Emily.

"Bye. I had a good time."

"So did I." Calla smiled again and shut the door, running inside as it started to snow lightly. When she reached the door, she turned and waved shyly. Emily reached out of the cab and waved back before giving the cabbie the address to her hotel. As he drove off Emily leaned back into the seat and sighed. It had been an extremely tiring day, one full of many different emotions. Entering her room, she quickly changed, and climbed into the bed early. She left the tv on and just lay there, her mind still very much back at the cafe. She couldn't believe that she had actually met her daughter. She had spent the entire day with her. It had been horribly nerve racking, terrifying, and wonderful.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N – Thank you again for all your comments, they motivate me to write faster and mean a lot:) I'm making Henry 4 (which I _think _is his real age) and Jack 8. I think in reality Jack is more like 6 (maybe almost 7) but I wanted him a little older, so...thats that. Also, reminder, I know nothing about adoption laws, I'm not going to bother writing up any real legal stuff. Without further ado...**

Emily was just as nervous the second time around. Calla had called her around 10am that Sunday morning to see if she wanted to spend the day together again. Emily could tell from her voice just how timid and nervous the young brunette was. She hadn't wanted to wake Emily, and she had been afraid that maybe she had been in church, or gone home – the girl had rambled on giving excuses before Emily finally cut her off. The relief in the girls voice was adorable.

"Sorry, I just didn't want to be too forward." Calla said.

"You're not, I'm here for you Calla, its kind of the whole point."

"Right." She answered with a little laugh.

There was a pause, and Emily decided to take charge of the conversation. "Well, I've only been to Boston a few times, I don't really know my way around. How about you take me wherever you want to go? Anything, money's no option."

Calla paused before answering, Emily could almost see her thinking. "I've got a few ideas..." She said shyly.

"Great, lay them on me."

"Well, we could go get lunch at this cool place a couple of my friends mentioned, its in Cambridge. And the other thing is a surprise."

"Oh really?" Emily laughed.

"Yeah."

"Sounds great. How about I get a cab and I'll be over there soon?"

"Okay! Do you remember the address?"

"Yup, I got it from Dianne yesterday."

"Okay, see you soon." Emily hung up and quickly gathered her things. She had brought a scrapbook that Garcia had made her for her last birthday to show Calla. The people that mattered most to her were her team, she might as well let Calla know about them if she was going to understand her life. Emily had also added a few photos in the spaces Garcia had left blank. A photograph of a sonogram Emily had gotten when she was around six months pregnant, and the one photo Emily had of herself holding Calla before they took her away. The nurse had been adamant about it despite Emily's mother's protests.

_"It is important for the mothers to see the children, hold them, say goodbye." She had said getting right up in Elizabeth Prentiss' face._

_"She is not keeping this child. She is a child, not a mother."_

_"Ma'am, she is a mother, wether she is going to raise this child or not, she has a right to meet her." And with that, she nurse had shoved past Mrs. Prentiss, picked up the baby girl and handed her gently to Emily. She had never been more grateful to anyone in her life. As terrified and as horrible that day had been, Emily wanted to see her baby. She desperately wanted to hold her, and she was terrified they wouldn't let her. Completely ignoring her mother, the nurse cooed to the baby softly, showed Emily how to cradle her, and said that she looked just like her. "She's a fighter this one." The woman said with a smile._

_"Is is bad that she cried so much?" Emily asked worriedly._

_"Not at all. Let's us know she's got some life in her. This one will be a force to be reckoned with, mark my words."_

_"She's so quiet now though."_

_"That's cause she knows her mama."_

_Emily smiled proudly, then caught her mother's disapproving eye. Casting her eyes downward in shame she reluctantly held the baby towards the nurse. "I'm not her mom."_

_The nurse glared at Elizabeth, then turned gently back to Emily. "You are. You always will be, that's not something to be ashamed of sweetie. Look what you did! You made this little girl, you brought her to life, and now you are giving her two wonderful parents who will take care of her. That's something to be proud off. You just created a family."_

_"Yeah?" Emily whispered._

_"Yes." The nurse bent down and kissed Emily's forehead gently. "And she will never forget you. Babies know, look how calm she is, you did that. Subconsciously, they always know, they remember, you kept her safe for nine months, that is something to be proud of." Emily grinned and kissed the baby's forehead._

_"Alright, that's enough, take her away." Elizabeth said with finality as she came over to them. Nodding, the nurse bent down and picked up a polaroid camera. She quickly snapped a photograph – much to Elizabeth's annoyance – and then gently picked up the baby. The baby instantly began to scream and cry as she was taken out of her mother's arms. The nurse gave Emily one last reassuring smile and handed her the photo. Glaring at Elizabeth, she carried the now crying baby out of the room. Emily sucked her tears back in and clutched the photo out of her mother's reach. "Get some sleep." Her mother had said as she exited the room, leaving Emily feeling very much alone._

Emily hailed a cab and gave him the address, she nervously played with the corners of the photo album as the ride dragged on. Finally, they pulled into Calla's driveway and Emily's heart leapt a little when she saw the teenager sitting on the front steps waiting for her. Calla jumped up at the sight of the cab, turned around to the house, called out that she was leaving and bounded down towards Emily. As soon as she reached the doors, her excited energy shifted and she shyly climbed in.

"Hi." She said, not looking Emily in the eye.

"Hello." Emily replied beaming. The two just sat there quietly for a moment or so until the cab driver asked where they were going. Calla fired off an address and he pulled out of the driveway. The brunettes were both quiet, they began the same dance as the day before; each glancing at the other every few seconds, smiling shyly, then looking away again. It seemed all of the nervous tension from yesterday had come back and they would need to relearn each other all over again. As they pulled up to the restaurant, Emily paid the cab driver and climbed out. The street was busy, apparently everyone chose to have an early Sunday lunch today and instinctively, Emily reached out and placed her hand on the small of Calla's back. She guided her into the restaurant gently. Calla was shocked, but didn't say anything. When they stepped inside, she moved out of Emily's hold, pretending to look out the window. Emily picked up on it, but didn't let it show. "Hi, we would like a table for two please?" She asked the hostess. Mother and daughter followed the hostess to their seats and glanced over the menus. Calla chose to get chili and pita bread, and after some deliberation, Emily decided to get the same. "Have you eaten here before?" Emily asked as she shed her coat. She had thought to grab a hat and gloves this morning, and was happy to see Calla had a warmer coat with her.

"No, but my friend Gina has."

They sat quietly and waited for their food to arrive. Emily wanted to bring out the photo album as an ice breaker, but there wasn't really much room on the table. "When is your recital?"

"Saturday."

"Oh wow. Do you think you're ready?"

Calla nodded as she sipped her hot chocolate. "Yeah, we've been working on it for months."

"I saw some of it. The opening number I think, and a couple of the other bigger dances. They seemed well rehearsed, and that was almost two weeks ago."

"Yeah, we always focus on the bigger dances earlier on, they're harder to get people together and stuff. We've had those down for a while. We've been doing solos, duets and trios. Smaller groups."

"Are you in a lot of those?" Calla nodded as the waitress came with their food. Smiling in thanks Emily asked for some more coffee. Her concussion hadn't been been bothering her too badly, and she was sick of limiting her caffeine. Both of them dug in; the warm chili was delicious and perfect for the cold day, and the pita bread they dipped it in was grilled to perfection. Both spent more time eating than talking for the next ten minutes or so. "What style of dance is your favorite?" Emily asked as they were nearing the end of their meal.

Calla thought about it for a second. "It changes actually. But probably jazz or contemporary. I really like tap, but its hard and I'm not that great at it."

"From what I've seen, I beg to differ." Emily said with a smile.

Calla beamed and sheepishly looked down at her plate. "No really, if you see someone who is amazing at tap, you wouldn't say that."

"No, I probably still would."

"Well, thank you. But you're wrong."

They paid for their meal and headed outside. Bundling up, Emily frowned a little that Calla had gloves, but no hat. Without really thinking about it, she took hers and placed it on Calla's head rather than her own and turned to hail a taxi. Calla frowned behind Emily's back, but left the hat on and followed her into the cab.

"So, where to now?" Emily asked. "You had a surprise right?" Calla nodded and leaned forward to whisper directions to the cab driver. Curiously, Emily waited. "Do I get a hint?" She teased as Calla leaned back and buckled her seat belt.

Calla grinned mischievously. "It has to do with stuff we talked about today." Emily furrowed her brows and tried to come up with something. Much to her delight, Calla broke out into laughter at Emily's face. "I'm not saying another word." As much as Emily was curious, she was happy to let Calla have this one. The look on the young girl's face was priceless.

Emily smiled once she realized the destination Calla had in mind. Paying the driver and climbing out, she followed her daughter inside. "Is this open?" She asked tentatively as they entered the quiet lobby.

"Nope."

"Calla!"

"Its okay, my friend works here, he knows were coming. That's why its unlocked."

"And who is this friend?"

"Tommy, he went to my high school, he's an assistant dance teacher now. He's really nice."

"And just how old is this Tommy?"

"He's got a boyfriend." Calla said with a smirk as she twirled away from Emily. Internally groaning she followed.

"Wow." Emily stated as the entered the massive theater. "This is..."

"Amazing." Calla finished for her.

"Yeah."

"Some of the most famous dancers in the world have been up there. My friend, the one I told you about, Gina, she got to see a real ballet here. She said it was amazing."

"Wait, a real ballet? Haven't you seen one?"

Embarrassed, Calla shook her head as she turned away from Emily. "No. Ballet tickets are expensive. Foster parents aren't usually gonna fork over cash for stuff like that." Emily frowned as she followed Calla down the aisle. She made a mental note to get this kid to see a ballet very soon. They both seemed to stop at the same point, and they took seats in the center, near the front of the stage. "Tommy lets me come in here sometimes. Besides the park, its my favorite place. I like it when its empty like this. You can imagine all the plays, dances and musicals that were here."

"Its peaceful." Emily agreed with her. They sat looking up at the empty stage for a few moments before Emily reached into her bag and pulled out the photo album. "I brought this. I mentioned my team yesterday, they mean a lot to me – they're kind of like my family – so I wanted you to know who they were." Emily opened it up and set it in between the both of them. Calla looked on curiously. She had actually been really interested in what Emily did for a living and the people she worked with. "This is JJ, she was our communications liaison for years, then she went to the state department and she's back as a profiler. She has a four year old son Henry and she's probably my best friend. The other blonde is Penelope Garcia, she is our technical analyst, the bald guy with his arms around her is Derek Morgan; he is basically my partner. These two older guys are Dave Rossi and Aaron Hotchner, Hotch is our team leader, he has an eight year old son, Jack. And this skinny, nerdy guy is Dr. Spencer Reid, he's a genius."

"Like an actual genius?"

"Yeah."

"Cool."

"I spend almost all of my time with them. Our jobs are pretty demanding."

"Are any of them married?"

"Hotch...was his wife Haley...died." Emily wasn't sure she was ready to tell a fifteen year old about her boss's wife's murder. "Rossi has been married three times I believe." Calla laughed along with Emily. "And JJ and Will aren't married, but they live together and might as well be. They just never formalized it."

"And they're the only other ones with kids?" Emily nodded. Calla glanced through the album quietly. There were pictures from Halloween a few years before, Reid dressed up and Garcia stuffing candy into his face, laughing. Some photos of the team at Christmas the year before, back when JJ had still been there; snapshots of the girls nights out with Garcia and JJ, Morgan trying to teach Reid to play basketball – without any luck, and a couple taken at Henry's second birthday party. The few taken at one of the fancier hotels they stayed at were Emily's favorites. The group had jumped into the pool with their clothes on after finishing a particularly horrible case. All but Hotch and Rossi were soaking wet and grinning from ear to ear. The next photo was after Morgan and Garcia had snuck behind the two men and pushed them in, suits and all. Calla had passed through most of the ones of the team and was on to a few of the ones Emily had kept of her friends in college; some of her childhood friends in Russia, and France, and the photographs of her with Matthew and John.

"That's John." Emily pointed out. It was her favorite photograph of the three of them; all holding their hands into the air in front of a graffitied building. It was back when the three of them had been just friends, before she and John started dating, before her life changed.

"You said you talked to him recently." Emily mashed her lips together, she had been dreading this. She nodded her head. "Well, is he...am I gonna meet him too?"

Emily sighed and turned her body to face Calla, she wasn't about to lie, she could tell that Calla would know the difference. She had a feeling that trust didn't come easily to the brunette teenager, if she was anything like Emily that was for sure. "No." She said as gently as she could. "He...I asked him and he doesn't want to be a father. He has a lot of problems, he wanted me to tell you...he wanted me to tell you that you were in good hands and that he didn't regret it."

"By it you mean me?"

"Yeah." Emily placed her hand on Calla's arm tentatively. "I'm sorry. He might change his mind, but he's not ready to meet you now."

"That's okay." Calla whispered. She shrugged away from Emily's touch a little and continued flipping through pages. She stopped when she reached the page that held the sonogram and the photo with Emily holding a baby Calla. "Is this me?" She whispered.

"Yeah." Emily said. Her eyes were welling up with tears and this time, she didn't try very hard to hold them back. "Thats us." Calla looked up at Emily and smiled. Emily told her an abbreviated version of how the photo was taken – she didn't want to speak about her mother very much – and by the end of it, both of them were actively crying.

"Did you mean it?" Calla asked after they had sat there a few moments.

"Mean what?"

"When you said I could live with you?"

"Yes." Emily reached out and took Calla's hand with hers. "Calla, I want that more than anything. I know it won't be easy, and it might be a little weird at first, but I want to get to know you. If that's something you want."

Emily waited and watched as Calla flipped through the album again, she didn't release her hand. After what felt like forever Calla glanced back up at Emily. "When can I move in?"

"Really?" Emily couldn't help but be shocked. "You want to? I...I don't want to rush you into something you're not ready for, but..."

"I hate my foster family. I don't really like Boston that much, the only friends I have are in dance, and there not that great. I like you. I want to get to know you too. Its kind of all I've wanted since I knew I was adopted. I do have my recital on Saturday though."

Emily moved in and gave her a tentative hug which Calla reciprocated. It was awkward, but it also felt right to both of them. Releasing each other, they both gave nervous laughs. "Let's get out of here." Emily said. Calla agreed and they went outside to hail another cab. Both of them were quiet for the duration of the ride, but it wasn't about awkwardness anymore, not really. Emily dropped Calla off at her foster home, promising to call her the second she got done speaking with Dianne. Emily called her immediately as the cab pulled out of Calla's driveway. They spoke over what to do next, legal issues, etc. Surprisingly, most of the work was already done, it was a matter of signing a few forms, getting Calla transferred, mostly paperwork. It would only be a temporary thing, there would be home visits and Emily would only be her temporary guardian, basically her foster parent, but there was a strong possibility that if all went well in the next few months, Emily could file for adoption if she wanted. Emily was thrilled. She called Calla and let her know most of the plans, Dianna spoke to Calla's foster parents, and within the next few days, Emily filed paperwork, flew home to get her apartment ready, speak to Hotch and set everything up for Calla's arrival. By Friday, everything was mostly set to go, Emily and the team had been invited to Calla's recital and - surprisingly - they still hadn't received a case. Deciding to take the opportunity as it came, and wanting to support Emily, all of them accepted and the whole team flew to Boston.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N - Thank you guys so much for your reviews, I'm glad people are liking it. Just to answer a few questions, yes things are happening rather quickly, but that is because Emily has wanted this for a long time, and so has Calla. She's known that she's been adopted, she's wanted to meet her mom for a while. Not everything is going to be perfect and an instant family. And I love Garcia, she's not getting punished for anything. Emily was annoyed with her, they made up, they're fine now. With that in mind, thank you again so much for the comments, hope you continue to enjoy!**

Calla bit her bottom lip nervously for probably the millionth time that afternoon.

"Calla, cut it out!" Her dance teacher, Cindy, whispered fiercely at her. They were backstage waiting as the audience filled into their seats. "You are making your lip bleed." Cindy reached out and took Calla's face in her hand; using one of the million tissues laying around she wiped at Calla's face gently. "What's going on with you? You are the one I never have to worry about! You never get nervous."

"People are coming to see me."

"Huh?"

"My birth mother remember? She's coming, and so are all her friends."

"Oh, well great! They paid for their tickets right?" Calla rolled her eyes as Cindy turned to answer a question from one of the older girls about a costume. Cindy was a great teacher, and a nice person and Calla respected her, but she didn't quite see the big picture sometimes.

"Yeah, they paid; but I've never had people come see me before. Everyone else always got nervous cause their families and friends were in the audience. I never had anyone to get nervous about before!"

Cindy turned back to Calla and gave her a soft smile. "Calla, your fabulous, and you know from experience that I don't hand out compliments lightly. They are going to be amazed, just do what you always do and have fun, you'll be fine."

"But what if I forget some counts or mess up?"

"Then smile and get up and keep dancing because I will smack you otherwise." Calla smiled but knew Cindy was only half kidding. "Now, no more of this nervousness. We have a show to do." Calla smiled and nodded, taking her place behind Tracy Matthews as Cindy walked gracefully onto the stage. "Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to Valley School's fortieth annual dance recital!" She was met with cheers and Calla peered around Tracy to try and see out into the audience. The stage lights were too bright to make anyone specific out who wasn't in the first row. "We have a wonderful show for you tonight, our students have been working hard all year long and can't wait to show off for you! We will be having an intermission, with refreshments in the lobby; but we would like to remind you – and the dancers who I know can hear me – that they cannot come see you in costume. Please refrain from going into the dressing rooms to visit, there will be plenty of time after the recital. With that in mind, we thank you for coming, and hope you enjoy the show!"

The music for the opening number began to play and Calla took a deep breath. She was warmed up, she had ran the number in her head already twice, she knew it, she could do it in her sleep. Shaking her hands out a little to try and rid herself of nerves, rolling her head to make sure she didn't hurt her neck, and pointing and flexing her toes one more time for good measure; Calla plastered on a smile, got behind Tracy, and danced onto the stage.

* * *

><p>"We're gonna be late!" Garcia exclaimed for the millionth time.<p>

"Baby girl, I'm coming!" Morgan stressed. They had decided to car pool to the jet. For some reason, flights were ridiculously expensive and almost fully booked – it was getting close to the holidays – so Hotch had pulled a few strings and gotten use of the jet. Morgan and Garcia were the last two to arrive and Emily sighed with relief at the sight of them.

"Really?" She asked sarcastically as they walked inside. She could hear JJ and Rossi laughing at her, but she shut them up with a glare. Hotch gave a tiny smile and went to tell the pilot that everyone had arrived.

"I've never been to a dance recital before." Reid said.

"No, it will be a new experience for a few of us." Rossi said with a small grin. It was not exactly his idea of a good time. Watching a bunch of kids prance around in costumes, but he would gladly sit there and pretend to enjoy it for Emily. Everyone could see how much this meant to her and they wanted to help.

"I'm excited. Dance is one of the oldest traditions in history. Every culture has some sort of traditional dance or movement associated with it, did you know ballet dates back to..."

"Reid, can you tell us later?" JJ asked softly, watching Emily bite her nails.

"Sure." Reid answered. He went back to reading a book about Russian ballet – in Russian – that he had picked up before leaving. JJ reached over and stopped Emily from picking at her nails, and took one of her hands in her own. Giving it a squeeze and smiling at the brunette; Emily gratefully smiled back. Hotch returned to his seat, going over some case files he had brought along, Garcia and Morgan were playing some sort of video game off in the corner, and Rossi had decided a nap was in order. JJ and Emily sat still, holding hands and not speaking the entire flight, it only calmed Emily down slightly. She couldn't figure out why she was so nervous. She had already met Calla, things had gone well, and she had spoken to her on the phone almost every night since she had gotten back home. Their conversations had been a little awkward, but nice, Calla was excited about her recital, there were going to be some scouts from dance companies and colleges coming to watch. The flight felt like it took forever, and finally, they arrived. Emily was the first one off of the jet, much to the team's amusement.

They arrived at the theater on time and got their seats. Emily had used the fact that she had some money to make sure they got front center seats. She was not about to mess up the first time she was truly there for her daughter. As they waited for the show to start, they glanced through the program, Garcia took great pleasure in highlighting all of the times Calla was mentioned. Reid glanced it over in seconds and turned back to his book, Rossi and Hotch did their best to look comfortable, Morgan was being fully entertained watching the dance mothers act out, while JJ and Emily just sat in quiet anticipation. Finally, the lights flickered as a warning sign to return to your seats, and the dance teacher, who Emily remembered as Cindy, came onto the stage.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to Valley School's fortieth annual dance recital!" Emily barley heard her, she was straining to try and find Calla in the wings. The music started and she released the breath she had been holding and this time, she reached over and grabbed JJ's hand. JJ just smiled to herself and gave it a squeeze, truthfully, it was fun to see her normally so poised and professional friend a little flustered. It was nice to be needed.

"There she is." Emily whispered as Calla danced onto the stage behind a tall blonde girl. The opening number went off without a hitch, all smiles and showing off their tricks. Calla was wonderful and Emily finally seemed to relax and enjoy the show once it was over. Calla didn't dance again until the eighth number, a tap dance to the Broadway song, "Steam Heat". The girls looked adorable in black dresses and top hats, Calla had a small solo and nailed it. Rossi actually appeared to be enjoying that dance, the rest had almost put him to sleep. Calla's next dance was ballet – her least favorite – and it was very pretty. Reid spent it whispering facts about the feet and arm positions in Emily's ear, and she didn't even care. The forth dance Calla was in was a big hip hop number right before intermission. The girls were clad in clothes that were just a bit too skimpy for Emily's taste, but not quite inappropriate. Emily gasped as the older girls threw Calla into the air and she flipped to the front of the stage. The entire audience went wild as they preformed daring trick after trick, Calla was very athletic, and clearly fearless. She just ran and let the other girls throw her around, trusting them to catch her.

"Holy shit Princess. You girl is awesome." Morgan whispered across the seats as the lights went back up, signaling intermission.

"She is very athletic." Hotch added.

"Should we get coffee?" Rossi asked. As much as he found himself actually enjoying the numbers Calla was in, some of the others were boring him to tears.

"Sounds like a good idea." JJ nodded and they all filled out into the lobby. "Its going really well." JJ said as they got some coffee and cookies and found a table near the corner.

"Its fantastic!" Garcia exclaimed. "I've got to get her to teach me that one little flippy move! It looked like fun."

"Baby girl, you would kill yourself." Morgan said with a laugh.

"Derek Morgan you take that back!"

Emily smiled, she was thrilled that her team had come, and that they were actually enjoying themselves. She had been a little worried that she had forced them into something they would hate, but everyone seemed to be having a good time. She was just nervous about afterwords, Calla meeting the team, and coming home with her for the first time. She was excited, beyond excited, but she was extremely nervous and fidgety about it and that frusturated her. The lights in the lobby flickered, signaling for them to finish their food and return to their seats. Quickly chugging the last of her coffee, Emily threw it into the trash and followed her friends inside. The second act was shorter than the first, Calla had two dances left, along with the finale that everyone was in.

The fifth dance of the second act was a contemporary trio, Calla, the tall blonde girl Emily recognized, and another older brunette girl. It was stunning. Emily felt herself get chills and after it finished, she realized that she had goosebumps. "That was amazing." JJ whispered to her, clearly just as moved as Emily. Emily could only nod, not trusting herself to speak, her daughter was talented. Calla's last dance was very near the end and Emily found herself getting antsy waiting for it. Finally, Cindy announced, "Ramalama Bang Bang" and two boys, clad in zombie like make up, ripped black and red costumes ran onstage and slammed into each other, falling to the ground. The whole audience gasped a little as the music began and the girls zombie walked onto the stage. The whole dance was brilliant, creepy and full of amazingly talented children. When they finished, all falling down "dead" at the last beat of music, the entire audience erupted into applause and jumped to their feet, no one quicker than Emily. The kids ran offstage and got in their places for the finale, which really was just the teachers showing off a move or two and then the kids bowing. The audience remained on their feet clapping throughout. When the lights went up and the children ran offstage to change Emily and the team slowly made their way back out to the lobby to wait.

* * *

><p>Calla ran along with her friends cheering. The recital had gone wonderfully, the only mistakes made had been tiny ones, barely noticeable. Excitedly, they ripped off their costumes and began changing back into their dance t-shirts and black pants. For the first time Calla could remember, she hurried to change and gather her things, she actually had people out there waiting for her this time. Wiping off her zombie makeup as best she could, she ran out of the dressing rooms with Tracy. Searching around for their families they held on to each other so they didn't get separated in the crowd. They found Tracy's family first.<p>

"Girls!" Tracy's mother screamed happily as she ran towards them. "You were wonderful! That makeup is not flattering at all." She said as she began rubbing what was left on Tracy's face off. Calla bit back a laugh. Tracy's mother was crazy and Calla found her annoying and amusing. Nervously, she looked around the crowd for Emily and the team. She knew what they looked like from the pictures, but it was crowded and she didn't see anyone she recognized. For a fleeting moment, Calla worried maybe they hadn't come after all. It wouldn't be the first time someone said they would show up and didn't. Just as she was about to give up and retreat into the dressing room, she recognized the skinny, nerdy guy from Emily's photos. Next to him, was the buff black guy, and the pretty blonde; Calla grinned but stayed where she was. She didn't actually know them, it would be weird if she ran up to say hello. Calla moved away from Tracy and her mother slightly so she would be in their line of vision and stood on her tip toes to be better seen. It worked, the blonde lady caught her eye and smiled. Calla saw her turn back to someone – Emily – and then she saw all of them making their way over. Instantly, she felt like throwing up.

Emily was the first to reach her, with a beaming smile on her face that was infectious. Calla found herself feel a little relaxed at seeing Emily. It was still weird to be around her, but it felt nice at the same time, Calla couldn't really explain it. "Hi!" Emily greeted her. "You were fantastic!" Calla was surprised when she handed over a bouquet of flowers. Calla had never gotten flowers before, almost all of her friends had, but the most she ever got was the obligatory single daisy that was handed out to everyone. So it was a shock when Emily handed her a bouquet, the blonde lady handed her one, as did both older men, the black guy and the other blonde, and the skinny guy gave her a single rose.

"Thanks." She managed to choke out. She could feel tears threatening to fall and she did everything she could to hold them back. All of the adults noticed, they were profilers after all, but none of them mentioned it.

"We were thinking we could take you out to lunch?" Emily asked. "Would that be okay? Are you hungry?" Calla nodded.

"I've got to get my stuff." She motioned back to the dressing room.

"Do you need any help?" Emily asked.

Calla wanted to say no, but she knew she would never be able to carry it all, her foster brother had helped her bring everything in that morning. "Umm...I might need a little. I've got a lot of costumes."

"No problem!" Emily said warmly. She, JJ and Garcia followed Calla into the dressing rooms as the men went outside to get a cab. "Are you relived its over?" Emily asked.

"Yeah a little." Calla found herself suddenly shy again. She didn't want Emily and her friends to see how messy and strewn all over her things were.

"Calla!" A tall brunette yelled as they walked into the dressing room. "Where's Jake?"

"Not here." Calla said stiffly, something that didn't go unnoticed by the three women.

"Oh." The girl's face fell. "Why not, isn't he picking you up?"

"No." Calla moved past her and set her flowers on a chair. She quickly began stuffing her costumes and makeup into her duffel bag.

"Why?"

"Because I'm not going home."

"Oh. He didn't answer when I called. Will you tell him to call me later?"

"No. I'm not going home." Calla repeated as she ignored the looks Emily, JJ and Garcia were giving her. All three women were confused.

"Okay, well _when you do _can you tell him to call me? He's being a shitty boyfriend."

Calla had stuffed her duffel bag completely full, Garcia and JJ had picked up the extra costumes that wouldn't fit, and Emily grabbed the flowers. "Lisa, I'm not living there anymore. Jake's an asshole, tell him that yourself." Calla luged her duffel bag over her shoulder and walked away from Lisa without another word. Emily had to laugh a little as she watched Calla waddle out trying to carry the bag. Running after her, Emily took the bag from Calla and handed her the flowers instead.

"She seems lovely." Emily said, a little bit sarcastically, as they walked outside.

"She's a bitch." Calla answered.

"Hey!" Emily said with a grin, but a serious tone. "Language."

"Sorry, but she is."

The two blondes looked at each other and smiled. It was amazing to see the brunette mother and daughter interact. They waited for a moment for the boys and realized that they weren't all going to fit in one cab, especially with all of Calla's things. Deciding to just split by the sexes, the boys took one cab, and the girls took another. Calla was squeezed in between Emily and JJ and while at first it felt weird to be so close to people she didn't know very well, as the ride wore on, it made her feel oddly safe. The blondes chatted excitedly about the recital, pointing out this move, or costume, or dance that they loved; it helped to ease the tension.

As the cab pulled up to the restaurant they had chosen – a chinese one, much to JJ's delight and Reid's dismay – the women climbed out and met the boys.

"Hey Princess, 'bout time." Morgan said with a grin as he took the heavy duffel bag from Emily. "Jezz, kid, what the hell do you got in here?"

Calla glanced up at Emily confused. She just smiled and shook her head. "Ignore everything Morgan says."

"Hey!" He yelled as she gave him a light smack.

Calla smiled at Morgan, she liked how the team interacted. So far, they all seemed really nice, Calla smiled at Emily and followed her into the restaurant happily.


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry for the delay, work has been insane, my boss is a bitch. Sorry, but this one's really short, I figured a short one was better than nothing:) Thank you for all your comments, glad you guys are liking it. How awesome was 7x04? JJ will forever be named Cheetobreath:) So pissed about a repeat this coming week though. **

Emily was ecstatic. Calla was over in the corner playing one of those giant claw games with Garcia and Morgan. None of them were having luck securing a toy and were burning through quarters. The team hadn't let dinner be awkward for a second. Morgan and Garcia slipped easily into joking with her and including her into the conversation. Reid was shy, and spit out facts more than anything else, but Calla seemed fascinated by him and was willing to listen – much to the teams amusement. Calla didn't quite seem to know what to make of Rossi and Hotch, but she was polite and spoke to them when they spoke to her. Emily could tell that Calla felt comfortable with JJ which made her happy. The two of them spilt a bag of cheetos and Hotch and Emily shared a smile. Everyone enjoyed watching Reid try to eat with chopsticks, but thankfully for him, Calla was even worse at it. Both of them opted for forks – not before Calla stubbornly tried to use JJ's hair tie trick – after dropping more of their dinner on the ground than in their mouths.

"You almost got it!" Calla yelled. Emily, JJ, Hotch, Rossi and Reid looked over and saw Garcia and Calla jumping up and down with excitement cheering Morgan on. "Pull to the left."

"I got it."

"You're going to drop it."

"What? No I'm not."

"Yes you are! Move it to the left a little first."

"Hey girly, don't tell me what to do." Morgan said playfully.

"If you're doing it wrong, then I'm gonna tell you." Calla said as she crossed her arms over her chest and took a defensive stance that made her look astoundingly like Emily when interrogating a suspect. Rossi burst out into laughter and tried to cover it up with a cough when Calla looked back at them. "What?" She asked Garcia.

"Nothing girly." Morgan answered for her. "You just really are Prentiss' kid thats all." Before Calla could respond he yelled out happily. "I got it! I totally got it!"

"My hero!" Garcia flirted.

"You still gotta get it out."

"I will."

"You're gonna drop it."

"Girl, you're very negative."

"I'm realistic."

The little green alien toy fell out of Morgan's claw and back into the bin just before he could get it in the right slot. Garcia groaned and JJ and Rossi laughed from the table. This was at least the seventeenth time they had dropped it. Garcia had taken about four turns before giving the reins to Morgan and he was too stubborn to let Calla try.

Morgan turned to face Calla. "You jinxed it."

"I did not. You just suck."

"What!" Morgan feigned being hurt and looked back to Emily. "Did you hear that Princess? Yell at her!" Emily simply laughed.

"Gimme a quarter, I'll get it." Calla said to Morgan.

"Bullsh..."

"Derek!" Emily and JJ yelled at the same time, cutting him off before he finished the word. He glanced down sheepishly and he passed over a quarter to Calla. Getting behind her, he crossed his arms and waited. Calla expertly moved the controls over the little green alien and lined it up. The whole time she was biting her bottom lip in determination. Garcia's cheering and Morgan's trash talk didn't phase her one little bit. She sent the claw down and latched it perfectly around the toy. Slowly and calmly, she pulled it upwards and dragged it over to the drop slot. Giving Morgan a smirk, she released the toy and it fell down into the slot with a little satisfying clink. Garcia cheered and pulled it out.

"You did it!"

"Yeah, only cost us six bucks in quarters." Morgan grumbled, annoyed that a kid had beaten him in seconds. Calla grinned and handed the small toy over to Morgan.

"You can have it." She said happily, then bounded back over to the table and sat down proudly next to Emily.

"That might have just made my day." Rossi said to her as he watched the look on Morgan's face. Everyone laughed, even Hotch cracked a smile as Morgan and Garcia returned with the winning toy.

"Alright, haha, you won this round girly; but I _will _get you back." Calla raised her eyebrows and smirked at him. Emily couldn't help beaming at how well everything was going. Reid leaned over to Calla and whispered in her ear, she began nodding vigorously and the two of them turned away from the rest of the team and began conversing with each other in whispers. "Why do I feel like whatever they are talking about is not going to end well for me?" Morgan asked.

"Cause it probably won't. You and Reid still have that prank war going on don't you?" Emily asked with a smirk as Morgan's face quickly turned to horror.

"Reid, you can't get her on your team! That's not fair!" Morgan yelled in protest. Reid ignored him and continued talking with Calla.

"We should get to the jet." Hotch reminded everyone. "Its getting late, we've still got the flight ahead of us." The team and Calla gathered their things and hailed two cabs. This time Hotch, Rossi, Garcia and Morgan were in one while Emily, JJ, Calla and Reid were in the other. Reid and Calla continued on some sort of silent conversation as JJ and Emily just watched on in amusement. Calla was impressed with the jet and excitedly had Garcia showing her ever inch of it as they loaded their things. The late hour caught up with everyone as they took off and Emily noticed Calla clench her fists as the plane acceded into the air.

"Have you ever flown before?" She asked softly. Calla shook her head quickly and Emily made a snap decision to grab hold of her hand. Gratefully, Calla clung to it in fear. "This is the only part that feels like flying, once your in the air, you barley notice it until you land."

"I like the show LOST." Calla whimpered. Reid looked up in interest and began stating his opinions of the show. Luckily, Calla animatedly answered back and seemed to forget about the possibility of being ripped out of the air and crash landing on a deserted island. She never let go of Emily's hand, she seemed to forget she was holding it. Emily didn't forget for a second. She was happy to sit there and listen to Calla and Reid talk, they were oddly alike. Morgan and Garcia were half asleep in the middle seats, Rossi was out cold across from them. Hotch was reviewing cases near the cockpit and JJ was sitting next to Reid wearing a similar expression of tired amusement as Emily as they watched the two youngest members talk. Eventually, Calla leaned back, exaughisted from a day full of dance, meeting new people and general excitement and fear. Without realizing or thinking about it, she was slowly falling asleep and leaning into Emily. JJ smiled at the image of the two brunettes falling asleep onto each other. Quickly pulling out her cell phone, she snapped a picture and saved it before the plane landed and woke them up. Slightly embarrassed, Calla pulled away, then practically jumped back onto Emily's lap as the plane had a bit of a rough landing. It was snowing in DC and the weather was causing a little turbulence. Emily laughed gently and told Calla it was normal.

Emily and Calla had said goodbye to the team, and headed to Emily's car. It was nearing one am and they were both tired. Most of Calla's things had been sent the morning before and were already at Emily's apartment. They drove on in silence and were both relived when they finally reached the apartment. Emily felt herself waking up a little as they went in, she wanted to make a good first impression. Realizing Calla was too tired to bother with any kind of tour, she lead her up the stairs to show her the bathroom and her bedroom. Emily was glad she had made the bed up before leaving because Calla was practically dead on her feet. Saying goodnight the two brunettes brushed their teeth and luged themselves into bed. Emily heard her phone buzz and reached over to see a photo sent from JJ of her and Calla asleep on the jet. Calla's head was resting on Emily's shoulder while her's was resting on the top of Calla's head. They were holding hands and both looked content. Smiling she sent a text goodnight back and set her phone on her nightstand. She curled under the covers and couldn't help but grin. Her daughter was home.


	13. Chapter 13

Emily woke up to the horrible beeping noise that could only come from an alarm clock. Reaching out from under her covers, she smacked at it until it finally shut off. Groaning, she threw the covers off and blinked at the light. Hearing a noise, she sat up quickly and went downstairs to find Calla in the kitchen brewing coffee and making an omelette.

"What are you doing up so early?" Emily said as she walked up behind her.

"Its nine thirty."

"Shit really?" Calla smirked as she turned around and handed Emily a mug. "Sorry." Emily apologized for swearing as she gratefully accepted the coffee. Taking a sip, she smiled. "Black, one sugar?" She asked. Calla nodded her head and Emily grinned.

"I remembered from when we went to the cafe." Calla said with a shrug. "Do you like omelettes?"

"I do, what are you putting in it?"

"Just cheese, is that okay?"

"Yeah, it sounds great, but you know you didn't have to cook."

"I don't mind." Emily sat down at the kitchen island and sipped her coffee while Calla flipped the omelette expertly. "Do you have to go to work today?" Calla asked.

"I don't think so, I should check in though, make sure we don't have a case."

"Okay." Calla slid the omelette onto a plate and handed it over to Emily who smiled in thanks. Calla poured more eggs onto the frying pan while Emily dug in. The two brunettes ate mostly in a slightly awkward silence. Both realizing this was the first time they were really alone together as a "family" for real. Just as they were finishing, Emily's phone went off. She groaned causing Calla to laugh a little.

"Morgan, if you are about to call me in on a case I'm going to punch you." Calla stood up and placed her plate in the sink and headed upstairs while Emily talked on the phone. She hadn't really had time to look around the apartment the night before and she was curious. She decided to jump in the shower rather than explore, in case Emily thought it was rude or something. After she had climbed in and started washing her hair, she heard a knock on the door and Emily stuck her head in. "Hey, I have to go into work for about an hour to wrap up some paperwork. Do you want to come with me, then we can grab lunch or something and we can get you set up with school?"

"Okay."

"Alright, I'm gonna jump in the shower too, meet you downstairs in about twenty minutes?"

"Okay." Emily quickly jumped in the shower and decided to just ignore the awkwardness and hope it went away. She was a little annoyed that she had to go into work, but in a way, she wanted Calla to see where she spent most of her time. Half an hour later, both mother and daughter were dressed, hair still wet, and driving to the bureau. Calla was mostly quiet, flipping around the radio stations until she settled on the song, "Without You" by Usher. She began singing and dancing a little bit along, causing Emily to grin. It was adorable. Her kid was adorable.

"Hey Princess!" Morgan greeted her as she walked into the bullpen. "And lookit here, Girly, what are you doing here? Em, recruiting you already?"

"Not a chance in hell." Emily growled at him.

"Okay, calm down I was kidding." Morgan said holding his hands up in fake apology. Emily punched his shoulder anyway and he just laughed. Sitting down across from him, Emily dug out her file and glanced over it. It was going to take her a little while.

"Do you have a book or something?" Emily asked Calla. She shook her head. Emily bit her lip trying to think of something for Calla to do without getting bored. Thankfully, JJ came to her rescue.

"Hey guys!" She greeted as she walked over to them. "Em, can I steel Calla?"

"That okay with you?" Emily asked. "I'll be about an hour or so." Calla just nodded and hopped off of Emily's desk to follow JJ back up to her office. Emily watched them go and only turned back to her file after JJ shut the door. Morgan just shook his head and laughed across from her. She reached out and threw her pen at him.

* * *

><p>"I figured just sitting there watching them write would be very boring." JJ said as she closed the door. Calla just shrugged. As nice as all of these people were, and as much as she liked them so far, she didn't really know them. People had ways of letting her down eventually, and she didn't think she would be able to handle it if Emily and her friends did too. Somehow, JJ seemed to know all of this without Calla saying anything. That both bothered her and made her feel better at the same time.<p>

"How come you have your own office and they don't?" Calla asked as she sat down in the chair opposite of JJ's desk.

"Ah, well I don't know what Emily has told you about our jobs. I used to be the Communications Liaison."

"What's that mean?" Calla asked as she swiveled her chair from side to side and looked around the office.

"Well, I used to read all of the cases, decide which ones we would take, deal with local police, talk to the press, that sort of thing."

"Why'd you stop?"

"I was forced out."

"You got fired?"

"No promoted. To the Pentagon, but I didn't want to leave, I loved my job here. After everything that happened with Emily, I came back to help, and my clearance was above our bosses and I was hired as profiler to replace Emily."

"Wait, huh?"

"What has Emily told you about last year?"

Calla shrugged and picked up a photo of JJ and Henry. "Bad guys killed people, you guys caught them, that sort of thing. She hasn't really talked about it much."

"Well, I'm not sure what she wants you to know about or not, so I'll let her explain, but the gist of it is, I'm a profiler now, and they just let me have my old office rather then dig out another desk. Not really sure why, but I'm not complaining. I'm messy, I think they just didn't want my messiness displayed in the bullpen." Calla laughed and set the photo back on JJ's desk. Looking around, it was a little messy, but Calla liked it. She was messy too.

"Is that your kid?" She motioned to the photo.

JJ nodded. "Henry, he's four."

"Cute." Calla said as she spun the chair around again. "I'm a fantastic babysitter."

JJ grinned. "I might have to take you up on that."

"I charge ten bucks and hour."

JJ laughed. "Well you don't waste any time." Calla just spun her chair around again and gave JJ a small grin. "We usually have a Thanksgiving party with the whole team, this year I think it will be at Hotch's, you can meet Henry then."

"Cool."

JJ bit her bottom lip. Calla wasn't making eye contact with her, she simply continued to spin the chair around and take in JJ's office. Her answers were short and simple, JJ wondered if this was how she was with Emily too. "Do you like Em's apartment?" She asked. Calla just shrugged and spun around again. "How was your birthday?"

"Fine."

"Did you do anything fun?"

"Not really. I had dance, and I'm too old for trick or treating. Plus I have to watch what I eat, professional dancers have to have practically anorexic bodies. Candy doesn't really help with that."

"Well, a little chocolate never hurt anyone."

"Guess not." JJ and Calla sat quietly for a few minutes as JJ tried to think of ways to make Calla more comfortable. Just as she was about to speak again, Calla beat her to it. "Have you ever killed anyone?"

"Umm...I'm not sure Emily would want me to talk about things like that with you."

"Why not?"

"Because I wouldn't want Henry to know about it."

"Yeah, but Henry's four, I'm fifteen."

"You just turned fifteen a few weeks ago, and fifteen is still really young. Our jobs deal with horrible things, things that grown ups shouldn't even see, no child should be subjected to it."

"But I'm asking."

"Well, you should maybe ask Emily."

"But we're friends right? Friends talk."

JJ smiled. "Yes, Calla, I would love to be friends, but I'm still not going to talk about this unless Emily says she doesn't mind."

"You don't have to go into any gory details. Just tell me if you ever shot anyone."

"Yes."

"Did they die?"

"Yes."

"We're you scared?"

"Terrified. He had Hotch and Rossi and other agents hostage in the bullpen."

"Why? What was wrong with him?"

"He was a narcissistic serial killer who worked as a police officer."

"He was a cop?" JJ nodded. "Well thats not good."

"I think we should talk about something else."

"Are Morgan and Garcia dating?"

JJ burst out laughing. "No. Garcia is dating Kevin Lynch, he's another tech guy. They just have a weird, flirty relationship."

"Oh. What's the creepiest serial killer you guys caught?"

"Please tell me you're not going to answer that." Emily said with a grin as she walked into JJ's office.

"Not a chance." JJ replied, much to Calla's disappointment.

"I'm all done. Want to go get you set up in school?"

"No thanks." Calla said as she spun around quickly. "School's highly overrated."

"Ah, nice try." Emily said while she and JJ laughed. "You are going to school. Come on, ninth grade waits for no one."

"I hate school." Calla pouted.

"Well, maybe you'll like this one."

"I doubt it." Calla said as she stood up and passed Emily, heading outside of JJ's office.

"Thanks for hanging with her." Emily said warmly.

"No problem at all." JJ said with a smile. "Call if you need anything."

"Will do." Emily waved goodbye and headed out to find her daughter. JJ just smiled. This was going to be interesting for sure. As she opened her file to get started on her own paperwork she heard Calla from down in the bullpen.

"Bye JJ! Thank you!" JJ was sure that Emily had prompted that and she just shook her head and smirked. Interesting for sure.


	14. Chapter 14

Emily reached over and placed her hand on Calla's knee, forcing her to stop tapping. Emily had noticed that she did this when she was nervous without seeming to even realize it. While she usually found it adorable – and frankly, still did – she doubted it would make the best first impression to the school's principal. Emily stood and lifted Calla with her by the arm as the woman walked into her office.

"Hello ma'am, I'm Agent Emily Prentiss, this is my daughter Calla Pierce."

"It's very nice to meet you both, please sit down." She motioned them back to their chairs. Calla slumped down and refused to meet the woman – or Emily – in the eye, choosing instead to look out the window. Emily sat up a bit straighter in her seat and gave the woman her full attention. "I'm Mrs. Thompson, the principal of the high school. Calla will be transferring into...ninth grade?"

"Yes." Emily said with a nod.

"Humm..." Mrs. Thompson said as she began glancing through Calla's files. "Her grades could definitely be improved. There are some notes her that she seems to lack focus." Mrs. Thompson looked up at Calla, who was still ignoring them both and staring out the window. "Apparently that's accurate." She said with a sigh. Emily hated her already.

"Well, that's something we would be willing to work on. Right Calla?"

"Huh?" Calla finally looked back at Emily, who gave her a small glare. Calla kept herself slumped down in the chair, but finally looked Mrs. Thompson in the eye.

"Yeah sure." She said with a fake smile. "Sounds great."

Emily sighed and turned her attention back to the principal. "I was thinking of getting her a tutor. Help her get caught up."

"That's definitely a good idea. Let me just get some of this paperwork for you to fill out and we'll get you two out of here." Mrs. Thompson stood up and walked out into the office. Emily turned and glared at Calla.

"What?" She asked feigning innocence.

"You could be a bit more polite."

"Why? She's a bitch. She just wants your money."

"Calla!"

"What? You think so too, I can tell."

"We only just met her, behave and you'll have no reason to see her very often."

"Fine." Calla turned back to the window, then quickly back to Emily. "You weren't serious about that tutor thing right? You just said that to shut her up and let me in the school?"

"No, I was serious. I think its a good idea. You've moved around a lot, you fell behind, some one on one time will do you good."

"That's bullshit."

"Calla, I want you to stop swearing please."

"Fine."

Mrs. Thompson made her way back into the room with a ton of papers in her arms. Calla stood up and asked if she could go use the bathroom. After she left, Emily and the principal discussed the living situation and explained how Calla hadn't been in her life for very long. The more Emily spoke with the woman, the more she disliked her. Emily almost considered putting Calla in school somewhere else, but this was close to her apartment, and one of the best private schools in DC. Emily was just going to have to deal with her and hope Calla didn't find herself in this office very often, or ever for that matter. The paperwork seemed to take forever, and by the time Calla wandered back in, she happily handed it over and thanked the principal for her time. Calla would start the following monday, rather than tomorrow, giving her the weekend to get settled in.

As promised, Emily took Calla out to get some lunch at one of her favorite restaurants. To Emily's disappointment, she was quiet and moody the entire meal. Emily wasn't quite sure what had caused it; if it was because of the school, or if it was just an inevitable step in their relationship, but she certainly didn't like it. Calla didn't seem up for doing anything else when they were done with their lunch, so mother and daughter decided to head home. Calla didn't play with the radio or sing along during the car ride back.

"Any ideas for this afternoon? We can do whatever you want."

Calla just shrugged her shoulders and continued looking out the window. "Who are you gonna get for my tutor?" She asked as they pulled up to Emily's apartment.

"I'm not sure yet, Mrs. Thompson gave me a few phone numbers of some college students she knows work as tutors."

"I don't want one."

"Calla, it doesn't have to be forever, just until you get your grades up a bit."

"Have you ever thought that maybe I'm just stupid?"

"No you're not."

"How would you know?" Calla asked with a glare as they walked into the kitchen. "You don't know me." Both brunettes stared at each other for a minute, neither knowing what to say as the statement hung in the air. Just as Emily went to say something, Calla took a step back and crossed her arms. "I'm tired, can I go to my room?" Emily could only nod as Calla practically sprinted up the stairs and away from her. She heard the bedroom door slam shut and felt herself collapse a little into one of the kitchen chairs. Bringing her head into her hands, she let out a frusturated groan.

She heard her phone ring and twisted her body slightly to dig it out of her pocket. Seeing the caller id, she answered and kept her head down on the counter.

"She hates me."

"What?" JJ asked on the other line. "Calla? No she doesn't."

"Yup, pretty sure she does now."

"Em, what happened?"

"She was moody and quiet the whole time we talked to the principal – who is a bitch by the way – and her grades are awful, and she needs a tutor, and she's mad about it, and she's mad at me, and I can't figure out what I did wrong, and my kid hates me. Want to trade? I'll take Henry, you take Calla."

JJ laughed. "Humm...maybe temporarily, but full time trade, no, I would miss him too much. And you would miss her." Emily knew she was right. In the short amount of time that Emily had known Calla, she already knew that she would miss her terribly when she was gone, surly teenager or not. She just didn't know what to do.

"JJ, I'm going to screw her up worse than she is already. I don't know how to be a parent, my parents were horrible. I should have just left her where she was."

"Em..." JJ started.

"No Jayje, this isn't something I can do. I thought it was but..."

"Em, stop, you're panicking, take a deep breath and shut up for a minute." Emily did as JJ told her. "Okay, feel a little better?" Emily shook her head no. "I know you're shaking you're head, stop it. You're fine."

"How can you possibly know that?"

"Because I probably know you better than anyone else? Scrabble anyone?"

"Very funny Cheetobreath. Shut up and help me. You're a mom, tell me what to do."

"Stop saying you can't for one, and remember that no mother actually knows what she is doing. We all make it up as we go."

"That's not comforting at all."

"Nope." JJ said with a grin.

"I'm hanging up now."

"Call if you need anything else. Is she starting school tomorrow?"

"Oh, shit no. We decided to start her on monday. What am I gonna do? I can't just leave her home alone."

"Bring her in, we don't have a case, and she can hang with Garcia if we do. Speaking off, what are your plans for when we _do_ have a case?"

"I have a neighbor who's really sweet, Margie, she's seventy-two and lives above me, Garcia already ran every check known to man on her. I've asked her to check in on her every few hours and make sure she's okay. And I'll call in and check on her too. Unless I actually hire someone to babysit her, that's all I can think off. But I have a feeling she would have a problem with that. Garcia also volunteered to have her bunk with her if need be, and I think Calla would be okay with that. Its just another thing we still have yet to talk about."

"About that...she was asking a lot about work. I'm not sure what you told her about last year and Doyle, but that might be something you should mention, at least an abbreviated version, since you were officially dead and people knew this."

"Yeah, I plan to tell her."

"Hey Em, its gonna work out. It might take a little while, but it will be fine."

"How can you know that JJ?"

"Because I know you, and she is a good kid and you guys will love each other, its just gonna take some time."

"Well, I wish it would hurry up."

"Go talk to your kid. Call me if you start thinking homicidal thoughts."

"JJ!"

"Hey, when Henry wouldn't fall asleep at night, I thought a lot of things that probably weren't very motherly."

Emily laughed. "Thanks JJ, I needed that."

"Have a good night Em. It'll be fine."

"Bye JJ." Emily hung up the phone and looked upstairs. Sighing, she stood up and walked to face her impending doom.


	15. Chapter 15

**Happy Halloween everyone! Stuff your faces with candy, have a great night:)**

Emily paused before knocking on Calla's door. She could hear music playing softly from the other side. She knew that there was no logical reason to be frightened of a teenage girl – well, not this one anyway – and yet what she was feeling right now was most definitely fear. Sighing, she straightened her back, set her face to what she hoped gave off a neutral front and knocked softly.

"What?" Calla's muffled reply came from behind the door.

"It's me, can we talk?"

"Yeah."

Emily opened the door and smiled at Calla. She was sitting cross-legged on the edge of her bed, her headphones slipped off her ears and were resting down around her neck; a book lay open in her lap. She looked nervous. Emily hated that she was the thing making her feel nervous. She gently stepped into the room and hesitated at the edge of Calla's bed. Calla nodded and Emily sat down, lifting her book out of the way. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix?" Calla nodded sheepishly. "Great books." Emily said with a smile.

"You've read them?" Calla asked, surprised.

Emily nodded. "I'm a bit of a nerd, name a book, I've probably read it." Calla smiled. "Is this the first time you've read them?"

"No, I've read all of them but the last one."

"What!"

"It was always checked out at the libraries, and I never had any cash to buy it."

"I've got a copy downstairs."

"Really?" Calla asked, excitedly. "Can I borrow it?"

"All yours." Emily replied with a grin.

"Thanks."

"Calla..." Emily began as she shifted herself to get more comfortable. "We have a lot to talk about." Calla nodded and glanced down at her hands, refusing to look Emily in the eye. "I know we can't cover all of it today, but I want to talk to you about some of the stuff you asked JJ."

"I'm not gonna freak out and get nightmares if you talk to me about work."

"I do."

"What?"

"Calla, my colleagues and I get nightmares occasionally, its part of the job. I don't want to scare you, but I also just don't want you to have to know about the horrible things I see. There are a few things I need to explain though."

"About last year?"

"Yes."

"How come JJ said she took over your job?"

"Because I was dead."

Calla simply stared at Emily and raised her eyebrows in mock confusion. "If you're about to tell me your a zombie, I am running and never coming back. I saw Zombieland, I know the rules."

Emily laughed. "No, not a zombie."

"Vampire?"

"No, I was...let me start at the beginning. You know most of how I moved around in my childhood right?" Calla nodded, listening intently. Emily bit her bottom lip and pressed on, as much as she wanted her daughter to know her life, in many ways, she wanted to shield her from it. "Well, before I joined the bureau, I worked for the CIA and Interpol. I was assigned to cases profiling terrorists. One of my last cases was an irishman named Ian Doyle. I worked undercover with him, and we caught him, he was arrested and sent to a jail in North Korea. Last year, he escaped and began killing my colleagues and their families in revenge. I left the BAU to try and stop him from hurting them, they're my only real family." Emily found herself bitting her fingernails as she continued explaining her story to Calla. The teenager was hanging onto every word. "They found me." Emily said with a laugh. "Of course. But Doyle had already gotten me at that point. I was injured, pretty badly, but Doyle got away. In order to protect everyone, we had to make Doyle – and everyone – think I was dead. Only JJ and Hotch knew the truth, they had to keep it a secret."

"Everyone thought you were dead? Even Morgan, Reid...everyone?" Emily could only nod, feeling the tears welling up. "That...sucks."

Emily laughed. "Yeah, sucks definitely covers it."

"Where were you? While you were 'dead' I mean."

"Paris, but it wasn't exactly a vacation. I was under an assumed identity, it was...well, to use your words, it sucked, big time."

"How come you're back?" As Emily began to explain, Calla cut her off. "They found him didn't they? The team?"

Emily nodded. "Of course." Calla smiled. "Doyle had a son, I hid him to protect him, Morgan and Garcia found him, and if they could, Doyle could. They monitored Declan, but he disappeared, JJ and Hotch brought me back to help find him."

"Is he okay?"

"Yeah, we found him, and Doyle was killed in the crossfire. Declan's fine."

"So he's dead? You're safe?" Emily nodded and found herself playing with her hands. The next thing she knew, Calla had her arms wrapped around her neck and was halfway onto her lap. Emily didn't hesitate to pull the girl in close and hold her tight. It was a bit overwhelming to finally hold her again, and Emily was reluctant to let go. Calla seemed to feel the same way and shifted herself so she was more on Emily's lap. Despite the fact that she was a teenager, she fit perfectly in Emily's arms. "I'm sorry." She whispered softly into Emily's shoulder. "That must have been awful." Emily felt a few tears fall and tried to stifle the rest, not wanting to freak Calla out. She kissed Calla's head and rubbed her back.

"Thank you. I'm just glad to be back." They held each other for another minute before it became awkward. Neither of them were used to the contact. Calla stiffened and loosened her grip, climbing off of Emily's lap and back onto the bed. Not giving her a chance to feel embarrassed, Emily grinned and stood up like they did that all the time. "Well, I think there is a pizza delivery with our names on it. You game?"

Calla nodded. "I'll be down in a minute."

"Okay, sounds good." The doorbell rang and Emily frowned. "I didn't order it yet, wonder who that is?" Calla just shrugged and moved past Emily into the bathroom. Emily walked downstairs and opened the door to find Morgan, Garcia and Reid holding pizza and beer, grinning at her.

"Hey Princess, dinner is served." Emily bit her lip and raised her eyebrows at him, returning his grin.

"I didn't order it yet."

"Beat ya to it. You gonna let us in?"

Emily stepped to the side as her three friends went into her apartment. She shook her head and smiled as she shut the door. "Anyone else gonna show up?" Emily asked as they made themselves comfortable around the island.

"Rossi might. Hotch and JJ are probably doing the kids thing. Rossi seemed busy though, so not sure."

Emily leaned over the counter and took the piece of pizza out of Reid's hands. "Hey!" He protested. "That was mine!" Emily took a huge bite and just grinned at him. "Rude." Reid said with a smile. "Are you gonna teach your daughter to do things like that?"

"Do things like what?" Calla asked as she came down the stairs.

"Hey Girly." Morgan greeted her. "We come bearing food, we didn't want your mom to poison you with her cooking."

"Woah, hey! I'm a good cook." Emily protested.

Garcia snorted. "Sweetie really? That lasagna stuff you gave me?"

"Okay, that was one time, I can make other things." Morgan, Reid and Garcia just stared at her. "What? Oh come on I can!"

"Baking, you can bake. Those cookies you made last week were fantastic, but not so much for actual cooking." Garcia said with a smile. "You have many other talents Em."

Emily pouted slightly which caused everyone – including Calla – to laugh. Calla slipped into the seat next to Reid. Rather than reach over him to get a slice of pizza, she took the one he had just grabbed out of his hand. "Hey!" He yelped. "That was mine!"

"Like mother like daughter." Garcia said with a grin as she handed Reid a third piece of pizza. Emily just beamed and Calla looked confused.

"Huh?" The teenager asked.

"Nothing, just eat." Emily answered with a laugh. The gang spent the rest of the night happily stuffing their faces, swapping funny stories and playing video games Morgan brought over in an attempt to get back at Calla for the game in Boston. Calla pouted as he beat her over and over again. Garcia wasn't able to take it anymore and teamed up with her. Morgan then forced Reid to team up with him, and made Emily be the judge. However, he found that her judging always leaned more towards the girls than them.

"Prentiss! As a judge you have to remain neutral!" Morgan yelled for the fourth time.

"Yeah and as my mother, she's automatically on my team." Calla yelled as she killed Morgan's guy. "In your face!" Garcia and Calla did a little victory dance as Morgan and Reid moped. Emily just laid back on the couch and took it all in. This feeling was amazing. Her life finally felt normal again, better than normal, it felt good, for the first time in a very long time.

* * *

><p>After saying goodbye to Reid, Garcia and Morgan, it was late and Emily could see Calla was tired. The girl was practically falling asleep on the couch. Emily smiled and walked over to her. "Come on kiddo, bedtime."<p>

"I'm not tired." Calla said with her eyes closed.

"Really?" Emily asked sarcastically. "Open your eyes and stand up then."

"I'm just really comfortable."

"Ah, that's what you're going with?"

Calla nodded and snuggled further into the couch.

"Calla, this couch is not comfortable to sleep on, your gonna hate yourself when you wake up if you stay here."

"I'll get up in a minute."

"You'll be out cold in a minute."

"No I won't."

"Why do kids always insist they're not tired when they are?"

"Why don't adults believe us?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe it has something to do with the fact that you haven't opened your eyes throughout this entire conversation? Or the fact that your words are slurring a little? Or the fact that your voice is getting quieter?" Emily bent down and was now whispering at the no longer moving Calla. "Or maybe because you are pretty much asleep already."

"Am not." Calla whispered back in protest - very unconvincingly.

Emily sighed. "Am I going to have to carry you?"

"You can't carry me. I'm fifteen."

Emily gave her a look, which she didn't see as her eyes were closed. "Seriously? I'm an FBI agent, I work out constantly, you look very light, I could definitely carry you."

"Can not."

"Am I going to have to prove it, or are you going to get up and go to bed?"

Calla sighed and snuggled back into the couch, eyes still closed. "You might have to prove it." Emily laughed and bent down, sliding her arms under the girl. She gently lifted her off the couch and up into her arms, cradling her to her chest. Calla curled into her further and wrapped her arms around Emily's neck. She was practically out cold in her arms. Emily just smiled and sighed as she carried her upstairs and placed her gently into her bed. She stripped the girl out of her jeans and tucked her under the covers. Bending down, she placed a small kiss on her forehead and smiled. "Night kiddo." She stood up and turned off the lights; pausing at the door.

"You're strong." Calla whispered from the bed.

Emily just smiled. "Told you so." She whispered back.


	16. Chapter 16

Emily glanced down the hallway towards Garcia's 'lair' for about the twentieth time that morning. She had Calla had gotten a late start. After practically dragging the very unpleasant teenager into the shower, she cursed herself for not forcing her to go to bed earlier the night before. There would definitely be no more late night video game dates with Morgan for Calla. Hair wet, peanut butter toast in hand, the grumbling teenager climbed into the passenger seat next to Emily and they drove slightly faster than they should have to the bureau. Morgan and Reid had laughed at the two of them as they ran into the bullpen with a minute to spare.

"Late start ladies?" Morgan grinned as he leaned back in his chair.

"Your fault Morgan." Emily answered through gritted teeth.

"My fault!"

"Yes, _your_ fault." Emily set her things down at her desk and turned back to Calla. "I'll take you down to Garcia's office."

"No need my love, I'm here to collect a mini Emily!" Garcia said cheerfully as she approached their desks.

"Thanks Garcia, sorry we're late."

"No problemo, you ready sweetie?" Calla nodded and followed Garcia down with a wave to Emily, Morgan and Reid. Emily sat down and got to work on her paperwork; while she was glad to not have to travel right now, not having a case was driving everyone a little stir crazy.

"Princess, you're never gonna finish that paperwork if you don't cut it out." Emily maturely responded by throwing her pen at his head – with impeccable precision. "Hey!" Morgan yelled. "JJ! Emily thew a pen at me!" He protested as the blonde profiler walked down to their desks.

JJ gave Emily a 'really?' look and then smacked Morgan lightly on the head. "You probably deserved it. Hotch told me to get you guys, we've got a case."

"Thank god!" Morgan thrust his hands into the air. "Well, I mean, I'm not really happy, just...I can't do anymore of this paperwork. I've already passed half of mine to Reid."

"You have?" Reid asked as he went through his files. "Morgan!" He placethe files back on Morgan's desk then followed JJ up to the conference room. Emily just laughed as she tagged along. Before everyone had even had a chance to sit down Hotch began debriefing them.

"We've got four dead women, all redheads, all in their late twenties, died from electrical burns to their bodies. There are also signs of beatings, and some of their hair was cut off."

"Where?" Rossi asked.

"Texas. Wheels up in thirty."

Emily groaned and picked up her file before heading down to Garcia's office. "Hey guys." She said opening the door. She was greeted with laughter and saw that they were watching some movie up on one of Garcia's many screens.

"Hey! Checking up on us?" Garcia asked as she wheeled her chair around to face Emily.

"I wish, we've got a case, texas. Can you take Calla home today?"

"Sure, no prob, but she can stay with me if you want?"

"I've already called Margie and she's gonna come make you dinner and hang until you go to bed. Then she'll check back in with you a couple of times tomorrow and sunday. Hopefully the case won't last till monday, but if it does, she'll get you to school, unless Garcia can do it?"

"I can! Oh please let me!"

Emily laughed at Garcia's enthusiasm. "That okay with you?" She asked Calla. The girl nodded, but kept her glance down. "I've got to grab my bag, want to walk with me?" Calla stood up and followed Emily out of Garcia's office. Emily could tell she was not excited about staying home alone with an old lady. "Margie's really nice, I was hoping we would have a little more time until I had a case, then we could have been better prepared."

"Its okay, its your job." Calla mumbled. She had yet to look Emily in the eye since being told the news. Emily was a little worried, maybe it was too soon for her to leave. She and Calla had only spent two full days together since she moved in.

"Calla, I can ask if the team can do without me for this one."

"No, I'll be fine."

"You don't look fine."

"Well I am." Calla stood up straight and crossed her arms in front of her chest defiantly. Emily had to bite back a laugh.

"Calla, for this to work, you've got to be honest with me, if your not ready tell me; its nothing to be ashamed off and the team will be fine without me for one case."

Calla looked back down to the floor. "Is it really dangerous?"

"The case?" Calla nodded. "Well, they're all a little dangerous. I don't really want to tell you the gory details."

"But people are dead?"

"Yes, four."

Calla kept her gaze to the floor, but spoke clearly. "Then go get the guy, I'll be fine. Margie and I will become best friends." She finally looked up and gave Emily a small smile. This time, she looked like she meant it. Emily returned the smile and gently stepped forward to wrap the girl up in a quick hug.

"Okay, call if you need anything. I might be working, but leave a message and I promise I _will_ get back to you. Do what Margie tells you okay? And please just stick around the house unless Garcia or Margie takes you somewhere. If I'm going to be later than monday, we'll figure something out for you getting to and from school. I'll call you every night okay?"

"Sounds fine."

Calla and Emily looked up as JJ and Reid rounded the corner, JJ holding Emily's go-bag. "Hey, we gotta go." She said with a grim smile.

"Okay, be right there." Emily said before turning back to Calla. "You good?" Calla nodded. "Okay, behave, I'll call you tonight."

"Bye." Calla called out to the three of them. Reid waved and JJ gave her a smile before wrapping her arm around Emily's shoulders and pulling her down the hall.

"It gets easier." She said.

"When?"

"Not sure."

"Not helpful."

"I know." The two women laughed and followed Reid onto the jet.

* * *

><p>"So, why take the hair? Is that their trophy?" Rossi asked as they conversed on the plane.<p>

"Probably, the fact that they are all redheads must hold some significance. The person the unsub may want to target or is venting their rage on is or was probably a redhead. More specifically this dark red color, rather than the more orange lighter color." Reid said quickly without looking up from the file. "Did you know that there are many different myths surrounding redheads? Some people believe that 'gingers' have no soul, and..."

"Reid." Hotch said, cutting him off. JJ smiled into her file.

"There doesn't seem to be any sexual component; unless he gets off on burning them." She stated from next to Emily.

"In which case, ewwy." Garcia said as her face popped up onto the computer screen. "Hello my lovelies, so your four victims all have another thing in common besides fantastic hair; they were all in the medical field. The first two vics, were nurses; Elise Young was an ER nurse and Tanya Jones was an RN who worked in many different sections in the hospital. They worked at different hospitals though. Karen Green was a surgical intern, and our latest vic, Paige McKeegan, was EMT. They probably may have met at one point or another, Paige mostly worked out of Mercy West, which is where Elise Young worked, but she also went to County – where Karen worked – and once in a while to Southside, where Miss Tanya worked. So she may have had contact with all of them, there is no real proof, either way, its a possibility."

"Garcia, please tell me you don't have my kid down there looking at pictures of dead bodies." Emily said.

"What do you take me for? I don't even like to look at dead bodies. Calla tell your mother you have seen no dead bodies." Garcia turned away from the screen to yell behind her, causing Morgan to laugh. Then, she disappeared from the screen to be replaced with a grinning Emily look-a-like.

"I have seen no dead bodies, but I did see a guy get his head ripped off." She said excitedly.

"What!" Emily yelled as JJ looked horrified. "Penelope!"

"Movie! She is watching a movie!" Garcia's worried voice yelled from somewhere off screen.

"Zombieland. Its hilarious." Calla smiled. "Hi, Mr. Hotch." She waved. Hotch mashed his lips together and couldn't help but let out a tiny smile.

"Hello Calla, can we have Garcia back please?"

"Sure! The movies at a good part anyway, they just got to Bill Murray's house." And with that, the teenager disappeared from view, and Garcia's face reappeared.

"Is she allowed to watch rated R movies? Its really not that violent. Well, that's what she said. I can put in a disney movie instead. I rented Tangled, much safer."

Morgan and Rossi chuckled and Emily reached over to punch Morgan – who was closer – before answering. "No, its fine, just maybe one you've seen next time?"

"Sure thing. What else do you need from me?"

"Keep checking their records, see if anyone else is connected to all four, the unsub has to have found and connected them somehow." Hotch answered.

"Will do, Garcia out! Calla, say goodbye to your mother!"

"Bye!" Her voice called from somewhere off screen, then it went black.

"She's going to be an interesting influence on her." Rossi said to Emily.

"Don't even let me think about it." Emily answered sarcastically; JJ and Morgan just laughed.

* * *

><p>When the team arrived at the local police station, they split into groups to check out the different woman's lives. Emily and Morgan, JJ and Reid, and Hotch and Rossi each went their separate ways to meet back in two hours. JJ and Reid went to Mercy West to find out more about Elise Young.<p>

"Calla is an interesting kid." Reid said as JJ drove to the hospital.

"How so?"

"She seems to like listening to me, not many people do."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, we went over there last night, Morgan brought video games, but Calla never looked bored when I talked."

"She finds you interesting Reid, thats a good thing."

Reid smiled to himself and glanced out the window for a few minutes. "Is it hard to travel and leave Henry?"

JJ looked a little surprised. "Yeah." She said with a sarcastic laugh. "It sucks. I miss him all the time, but I love my job and I spend every free moment I've got with him."

"Do you think Emily and Calla will be okay?"

"Yeah, I do. It might take them some time, but Emily's a fantastic person, she's great with kids. If anyone can make this situation work, she can."

* * *

><p>Emily and Morgan headed back to the station somewhat defeated, they hadn't really found out anything helpful. A quick stop for some coffee and bouncing theories off of each other had helped a bit, but they were still right where they started. Besides the color of their hair, and their professions, the four women were nothing alike. Emily let out a frustrated groan as she sat down and opened a file.<p>

"This case is gonna suck, I can feel it." Morgan said with a grim look on his face. Emily merely nodded in agreement. This definitely had the feel of a case that would not quite end well or quickly. Emily wanted nothing more than to solve this and be there for Calla's first day of school on monday, but she doubted that would happen. She couldn't believe how much she missed her already, it had only been a few hours, but it felt like days. She flipped open her phone and sent a quick text to the phone she had bought the girl yesterday.

**How was the movie? **

Emily slipped the phone back into her pocket and turned her attention to Hotch and Rossi who were just getting back. The duo looked just as defeated as Emily and Morgan, clearly, they hadn't learned anything useful either. As Hotch replayed what they knew so far Emily's phone buzzed. Morgan noticed the look of glee that came over Emily's face and smiled into his coffee. That kid was gonna be good for her, probably for the whole team.

**Good! It was really funny, more of a comedy than a horror movie. But Garcia said she's never letting me watch anything violent again. **

Emily chuckled softy to herself and sent back a reply. **Good. I agree with her. Do you think you'll be okay hanging out with her a while longer?**

**Yeah, we got take out. She's working, I'm reading a book I found in your desk. I'm fine. Did you catch the bad guy yet?**

**No, not yet. What book?**

**Mother Night.**

Emily beamed and said goodbye to Calla, telling her to stay out of Garcia's way and be ready when Margie picked her up. For a seventy-two year old woman, she was surprisingly spry. She still drove, worked out, looked like a woman in her late fifties, rather than early seventies. Slipping her phone back into her pocket she leaned over to Morgan and gave him a light smack to get his attention.

"Guess what book my kid is reading?" She asked as JJ and Reid arrived back and relayed what they had found to Hotch.

"Hum?" Emily raised her eyebrows, forcing him to guess. "Vonnegut?" He asked. She simply grinned. "No way! Slaughter House? Cat's Cradle?" Emily shook her head, enjoying making him guess. "Breakfast of Champions? Mother Night?" Emily nodded. "Well then, I guess she's alright." Emily hit him harder and stood to follow Hotch. "Ow, Princess that hurt!"

"Good." She said with a grin. "What's up Hotch?" He stood with his back to the local police officers and lowered his voice. Whatever it was, made Emily change her demeanor from playful to serious in an instant.

"JJ and Reid spoke with a woman who worked with Elise Young, she said that she went on a date with one of the EMTs the week before who spoke about the different hospitals he worked at. He gave off a vibe that creeped her out and he hasn't been back to work since. I want you and Rossi to head over to his apartment, its the only lead we've got so far."

"Sure." Emily gave him a brisk nod and headed out after Rossi. She couldn't help but be hopeful that this was their man, get him and get home.

* * *

><p>Calla found herself nodding off on the couch in Garcia's lair. Despite the stuff that filled her screens – and the way Garcia flat out refused to let her see anything – Calla felt safe there, comfortable. She couldn't help but realize she actually missed Emily however. The text message had cheered her up more than she would have thought. She hadn't wanted to show it, but she really was disappointed that Emily had to leave so soon. She was fifteen, she wasn't stupid, she understood what Emily did for a living; she got that she was literally saving people's lives, but Calla wished that didn't mean having her travel out of the state for days at a time. Garcia had stepped out a minute before, thinking Calla was asleep and needing to get something for the team. Margie was due to pick Calla up any minute now, and Calla couldn't help but be curious as to what exactly Garcia was so horrified by. Emily and JJ were both very adamant about not talking about their work too and it annoyed her. She wasn't a little kid, she had seen horror movies, she watched crime shows, she knew people died. Calla stood up and went over to Garcia's computer, she hit a few keys and the images of four women, practically naked, tied up and with burns all over their bodies opened onto the screen. Calla bit back a scream. Their faces haunted her. There was nothing there. No life, no feeling, no sadness, just nothing. Calla quickly closed the window and moved back to the couch. She never wanted to see that again.<p>

"Hey sweetums, the lovely Margie is here to escort you back to your humble abode." Garcia said as she entered the room.

"Okay, sounds good." Calla quickly sat up and got her things together. She didn't want to be there anymore, not after seeing those pictures. She briskly said goodbye to Garcia and all but sprinted out of the room. Garcia narrowed her eyes at the back of the jittery teenager, she had definitely done something she shouldn't have. _Crap._ Garcia thought, this is going to somehow be my fault.

* * *

><p>Emily and Rossi knocked on the door and waited for a reply. Footsteps could be heard from the other side, and they stood up straighter. The door opened and a scruffy looking, raven haired, asian man in his late twenties greeted them with a frown.<p>

"Hello, I'm SSA Rossi and this is SSA Prentiss, we're from the FBI." Rossi began as they both flashed their badges. The man began shifting his weight nervously. "We wanted to ask you a few questions, may we come in?"

"Why? About what I mean?"

"You went on a date a few weeks ago with a woman named Elise Young?" Emily asked. The man nodded his head. "Can we come in? We'll explain further." The man opened the door wider – reluctantly – and gestured for them to go in. Emily and Rossi shared a look before entering the apartment. It was messy, clothes, magazines, take out containers and papers were strewn about everywhere. Rather than sit down on a suspiciously looking couch, Emily stood up straight and looked the man in the eye. He continued to twitch about nervously.

"Is Elise okay?" He asked.

"No." Rossi answered. "Paul, she's dead."

"Dead?" Emily caught the tiniest hint of happiness show up on his face before it turned serious.

"Does that make you happy for some reason?" She asked.

"No." He looked down and shifted his weight again. "That sucks."

"Really?" Rossi asked. "Cause, you don't look all that torn up about it."

"We only went on one date, I didn't know her that well." Paul defended.

"Why only one?" Emily asked.

"Huh?"

"Only one date, what didn't work out?"

Paul just shrugged and nervously glanced out the window, as if waiting for something. "Did you ever work with a woman named Paige McKeegan?" Paul shook his head. "How about Tanya Jones, or Karen Green, ever meet either of them?"

"No, why?" Paul moved backwards toward the kitchen and glanced out the window again.

"Are you expecting someone Paul?" Emily asked.

"No." Paul answered a little too defiantly. Emily and Rossi shared another look and began slowly moving closer to him.

"So you never met any of those other women?" Rossi asked again.

"I said no!" Paul stole a third glance out the window and backed up further.

"Paul, who are you waiting for?" Emily asked softly, playing good cop to Rossi's bad. Paul glanced between Emily and Rossi before turning around and bolting into the kitchen. Emily and Rossi ran after him and caught him just as he tried to leave through a back door. Emily grabbed a hold of him and roughly pulled him back as Rossi slapped some handcuffs on him.

"Why don't we continue this conversation back at the station, eh Paul?" Rossi asked as they led him outside.

* * *

><p>"He won't talk." Hotch informed everyone in a frustrated tone. "If he is our guy, then he has a partner, he's not smart enough to pull this off by himself." Rossi and Emily had been questioning him – continuing with their good cop, bad cop routine – for almost three hours. So far, they had gotten nowhere. Everyone was beyond tired and annoyed, it was well after two am and they just wanted this to be over. "He's not going to give anything up now, we can hold him overnight and try again in the morning. None of us are going to be any good to anyone if we don't get some sleep. Lets head to the hotel, and we'll start fresh in the morning."<p>

Grateful everyone grabbed their go-bags and climbed into their cars. The hotel was small, as was the town and they were sharing rooms. Emily and JJ barely stripped off their clothes and brushed their teeth before falling into their beds, completely exhausted.

* * *

><p>Calla woke up screaming. She had said goodnight to Margie sometime around eleven and promised to head straight to bed. Using watching bad late night tv as an excuse to stay up later she had almost fallen asleep on the couch. Remembering Emily's warning the night before about the comfortableness of this particular couch, she lugged herself upstairs and flopped down into her bed. The room was still rather barren, Emily was going to take her to get stuff for the room tomorrow, but she doubted that would be happening now. Calla had snuggled into the comforter and fallen asleep rather quickly sometime around 1:30am. It was now 4:43 and she was hating the fact that she was utterly alone in this apartment. Not about to go wake up an elderly woman because she had a nightmare, Calla wrapped her blanket around herself and shuffled down the hall to Emily's bedroom. She hadn't been in there yet, it seemed like an invasion of privacy somehow, but Calla tentatively opened the door.<p>

The room was simple, but warm and inviting. Quickly, Calla shuffled to Emily's bed and hopped up, diving under the covers with her comforter still around her. The bed smelled like Emily and made her feel safer instantly, something that surprised her. Calla shifted around until she was comfortable and let herself fall asleep.


	17. Chapter 17

Emily took a sip from her third cup of coffee that morning. Despite the late hour that the team had gone to bed, they had gotten up around eight and headed back to the station to question Paul Tao right away. The night in a jail cell had been enough to shake his nerves a bit, but another girl was now missing. Either they had the wrong guy, or he definitely had a partner. Rossi and Morgan were currently questioning him.

"Anything new?" JJ asked as she and Reid came back from speaking with the boyfriend of Julie Long, the woman who had gone missing last night. Emily shook her head as she went over the files yet again. JJ sat down on top of Emily's desk and took a sip from her coffee.

"Hey!" Emily protested. "Get your own!" JJ just smiled, took another sip and handed it back over.

"I've had too much already."

"Me too." Emily admitted.

"Have you called Calla yet?"

"No, I didn't want to risk waking her up. Its saturday, might as well let her sleep in." Emily glanced over at Reid, his brow furrowed as he stared at the white board. He was thinking of something, she knew that look. "Reid?" She asked. "What are you thinking?" JJ turned around to look at him.

"Something doesn't make sense. These women are all redheads, all in the medical field, Paul Tao is an EMT, but nothing about him really fits the profile. For an EMT he really isn't physically very strong, he couldn't have subdued these women by himself."

"And when we showed him the pictures of the bodies he looked genuinely horrified." JJ added.

"Exactly!" Reid quickly reached over JJ and grabbed Emily's file. He began flipping through it with great speed. "There is something else, JJ remember, when we spoke with that nurse she mentioned that Elsie had gone on another date." Reid didn't find what he was looking for and dropped the file back down. He moved over to the other side of the table and found his notes from the interview. "That other man, she just mentioned it off-handily, because he didn't creep her out. Paul is the submissive one! He comes off as socially awkward and shy, but we profiled that the man abducting these women would come off as suave. He _has_ a partner."

"Yeah, but Reid we already knew that." Emily reminded him. "That's what we've been trying to figure out since this morning."

"But I'm saying we don't need Paul to tell us, we already know who he is!" Reid quickly whipped out his phone and called Garcia. "Garcia! Can you pull up the records that you had yesterday of the hospital workers from where Elise Young worked?"

"Got em, what you do need?" Garcia's voice echoed into the room.

"Run the names of male nurses and surgical interns against the other three hospitals." Reid turned to Emily and JJ explaining to them as Garcia worked. "He wouldn't seem like a threat, but he's annoyed because he's at the bottom of the ladder."

"I've got about six names that connect with all four hospitals."

"How many surgical interns?"

"Two."

"And four are nurses?"

"Yes."

"Okay, of the four nurses how many have had a lot of other jobs in recent years?"

"Hang on...oh...one, a Mr. Tony Andrews. He was fired from three other jobs, he's been an EMT."

"Its him!" Reid exclaimed gleefully. "Hotch!"

Emily and JJ stood up and ran with Reid to the interrogation room. They explained what they had learned to Hotch. Rossi stayed back to continue pressing information out of a now very nervous Paul while the rest of them headed for Tony's apartment. Emily felt the adrenaline rush as she pulled her hair back in the car. On her left, JJ was doing the same, Morgan's hand was gripped tightly and controlled to the steering wheel. Hotch was staring out the window from the passenger seat with a stoic, controlled look and Reid was on the other side of JJ, his mind clearly running through everything again a mile a minute. This part, this, calm before the storm, the excitement of knowing they were about to get the guy. Knowing that soon, this would all be over, one way or another, it would be over.

Emily and Morgan took the back, while JJ, Hotch and Reid took the front. Hearing shouts and a commotion, Emily and Morgan moved forward. Tony ran outside and barreled into Morgan, sending them both down to the ground. Emily quickly pulled her gun on him and told him to freeze. Tony chose not to listen to her and started to get up to run. Emily quickly reacted as Morgan kicked him. Yanking his arms around his back, she slapped the cuffs on him as Hotch came up behind her to help. Tony managed to get a swift kick in that sent Emily down to the ground with a hard thud.

"Emily!" She heard a voice call out. Holy mother of balls, her head hurt. She tried to sit up, but immediately became dizzy. "Emily, why is it always you?" JJ's voice Emily realized.

"I..." She tried to sit up again, more slowly this time, and with JJ's help. "I dunno, maybe I've got a kick me sign on my back. You put it there?"

JJ laughed. "No, but I might if you don't get your ass up and not complain about the paramedics checking you out."

"Jayje, I'm fine." Emily began to protest. As she stood up fully she winced from the impact to her stomach. "Jezz, he sure can kick."

"Come on, lets get you checked out."

"JJ..."

"The sooner you let them okay you, the sooner we can finish up at the station, get on the jet, and get home. Home, remember you've got a little girl there waiting for you now?"

"Fine." Emily relented and let JJ lead her over to the ambulance.

"You know, I got hurt too JJ. Why aren't you helping me?" Morgan asked with a fake pout as her followed the two women.

"I like her better." JJ said with a grin.

"That's harsh woman, that's harsh."

"Face it Morgan, I'm prettier." Emily grinned at him.

* * *

><p>The plane ride seemed to take forever. Morgan and Emily were both fine, just bruised and sore. Emily had called Margie as they landed to let her know that she would be home in twenty minutes and to thank her for watching Calla. As she opened her apartment door, she was hit with the loud volume of the television.<p>

"Calla?" She called out as she set her bag down. "I'm home." She heard the shuffle of feet and the next thing she knew, the brunette teenager came waddling into the kitchen wrapped up in Emily's quilt. She ran right up to Emily as if to hug her, but hesitated at the last second and just stood in front of her.

"Hi." She said awkwardly.

"Hey." Emily returned with a laugh. Wrapped up like she was, Calla looked about four years younger and seemed very little. "Did you eat?"

"Margie made something that looked like green mush. I pushed it around on my plate to be polite."

Emily snorted. "Yeah, I forgot she can't really cook."

"Neither can you apparently."

"Hey!" Emily said half laughing. Calla shrugged her shoulders and followed her – closely behind – into the kitchen. She struggled to sit herself down at one of the stools and almost slipped off the chair before Emily caught her. "Are you cold?" She asked as Calla tried to get herself on the stool again. Calla shook her head, then realized it was odd for her to be wrapped up in a quilt and _not_ cold and just shrugged. The shrugging caused her to slip off the stool again and Emily caught her with a laugh. "Why don't you shed this and grab a hoodie?"

"Good idea." Calla grinned, sheepishly.

"I'll order some food, pizza? chinese? What are you in the mood for?"

"Pizza, spinach."

"Really? You like spinach pizza?"

"Yeah, you don't? We can just get cheese, or pepperoni I like those too."

"No, I love spinach pizza, not many people do. I'm just surprised."

"Well, we are genetically related." Calla said with a shrug as she hurried up the stairs to get a hoodie.

Emily smiled to herself as she leafed through the take out menus. "That we are."

Half an hour later the food was delivered and Emily and Calla happily – and hungrily – stuffed their faces. They had moved from the island to the couch and were in the middle of watching _Doctor Who_ reruns. Emily was thrilled that her daughter was as big of a fan as she was. Reid had gotten her into the show a few years before. They had spent the last few minutes discussing their favorite companions – both were partial to Donna Noble. Emily dropped the last of her crust onto her plate and leaned back into the couch. Her body was still sore from the kick to her side and she groaned a little from the movement. Calla noticed and leaned back as well, her eyebrows raised in question.

"Are you hurt?" She asked softly.

"Nah, I'm fine, just a little sore."

"What happened?"

"The unsub kicked me in the side when we cuffed him. No big deal."

Calla reached over and gently lifted Emily's shirt a little. "That's not no big deal!" She yelled. "That's the biggest bruise I've ever seen."

"Its fine." Emily protested.

"I'll get some ice." Calla said ignoring her.

"Calla, really, its just a bruise."

Calla opened the freezer and dug around finding more than one ice pack. "You get hurt a lot don't you?" She asked.

"People seem to like to hit me with things." Emily answered sarcastically. Calla chuckled and wrapped the ice pack in a small towel. Walking back over to the couch Calla gently held the ice pack to Emily's side. Emily winced in pain and sucked the air in through her teeth.

"Sorry." Calla said, worriedly.

Emily waved her off. "Its fine, I got it." Emily held the ice pack in place and controlled her face so it showed no pain, she didn't want to worry Calla. They spent the next hour or two watching tv, Calla was very adamant about Emily icing her side for twenty minutes, then taking it off for twenty minutes, only to ice it again. It was annoying, but cute. Both mother and daughter were very tired by the time ten pm rolled around and Emily decided it was time for bed. Calla seemed reluctant, more so than just a teenager who wanted to stay up later. Before Emily could ask her about anything, the teen said goodnight and went into her room.

* * *

><p>Emily woke up quickly hearing a scream. She cried out at the pain of sitting up so fast and glanced at the clock. It was 3:47am. Hearing a second scream, one that sounded more like a whimper. She climbed out of bed as quickly as her bruise would allow and ran down the hall. Opening the door, she found Calla thrashing about in her bed. Emily moved into the room quickly and reached out to calm the girl down.<p>

"Shush, Calla, sweetie its just a nightmare. You're okay. I got you, Calla, sweetie wake up. Its Emily." Calla opened her eyes slowly and Emily brushed her hair out of her face. "Hey, honey you're okay, it was just a nightmare. You want to talk about it?" Calla whimpered and curled into Emily's side. She shifted herself so she was sitting on Calla's bed and wrapped her arms around the girl. She knew that she was taking full advantage of the fact that it was late at night and Calla was scared, but she would take any physical contact the girl would let her give. Emily rubbed her arm gently as Calla calmed down.

"I looked at the pictures of the dead girls on Garcia's computer when she left the room." Calla confessed.

"Oh, sweetie..." Emily started.

"I'm sorry."

Emily mashed her lips together in frustration, and looked down at the girl in her arms. "Calla, there is a reason I didn't want you to know about the details of my job."

"Yeah, I kinda get that now."

"From now on, when I, or JJ, or Garcia, or anyone on the team tells you not to look at something, or not to ask about something, please listen to them okay?"

Calla nodded her head into Emily's chest and clutched her shirt. "I had nightmares last night too. I slept in your bed, that's why I had your quilt."

"Oh, Calla..."

"I'm sorry."

"Its okay, I just wish you would have called me."

"It was really late."

"Calla, you can call me no matter what time it is okay?" Calla nodded and loosened her grip on Emily somewhat reluctantly. Emily realized that she was becoming embarrassed and refused to acknowledge it. "Want to bunk with me tonight?"

"No, I'm fine. I'm not a little kid."

"Well, bed's open if you do. Just crawl in." Emily bent down and placed a kiss on Calla's head before tucking the blanket up over her gently. "Goodnight."

"Night." Calla whispered as she rolled over to her side. Emily smiled to herself as she walked back to her room and climbed into her bed happily.


	18. Chapter 18

**Hi everyone! I'm starting another CM story called Beauty In All She Is (JJ and Emily, check it out if that's your thing). Thank you all for your comments, hope you continue to enjoy!:)**

Emily couldn't stop grinning. A sunday off of work with Calla was fantastic. They had woken up early and attempted to make pancakes and scrambled eggs until the smoke alarm had gone off. Apparently, Calla inherited Emily's poor cooking. She was annoyed that for some reason she could make omelettes, but not pancakes, and Emily had butchered the scrambled eggs.

"We're gonna starve." Calla moaned as she poked the mess of batter on the stovetop.

"No we're not." Emily answered her while jumping up and fanning the smoke alarm with a towel. "Calla, don't do that." She said noticing what the teenager was doing. "Calla!" Emily dropped the towel and ran over to pull her daughter away from the flame as it sputtered out under the pan where Calla's hand had just been. "Okay." Emily said facing the slightly shaken girl. "We need reinforcements."

"Like who?"

"Rossi's a great cook. I'll call him." Emily picked up the phone and kept an eye on Calla as she deposited the remains of their first breakfast into the trash. She suppressed a chuckle as Calla apologized to the batter for screwing it up so badly. Rossi had simply spent the entire conversation laughing at her, so Emily decided he was no help at all and promptly hung up on him. She let him laugh much longer than she usually would have, knowing after Caroline's death, a good laugh might help him a bit. After almost fifteen minutes though, there was only so much she could take. "Okay!" She turned to Calla. "New plan, we will depend on the kindness of strangers to feed us."

Calla raised her eyebrows in question at her mother and Emily couldn't help but notice that she looked exactly like herself. "Kindness of strangers? Isn't half of your job helping people who do that and get kidnapped by serial killers?"

"No. That whole stranger danger thing is crap, I mean, its plausible, it happens, but more often its people you wouldn't suspect, people you might know."

"That's creepy."

"Yes it is. Grab your coat, there is a diner around the corner that does great breakfast." Calla and Emily bundled up, it wasn't snowing yet – at least nothing that had stuck – but it was cold. Calla groaned at Emily's insistence of her wearing a hat, but complied. The two brunettes chose a window seat near the front and ordered from a cheerful woman named Connie. "So, how about after this we go get some school stuff for you?" Emily asked as their food arrived. Calla glumly nodded and made herself busy with loading her pancakes with syrup. "Calla, it'll be fine."

"Easy for you to say, you're done with school."

Emily laughed. "Yeah I am, but it will still be fine. I survived, you can too." Calla had yet to look Emily in the eye. "Cal, what exactly is it your worried about?" Emily asked softly. Calla just shrugged. "No, come on, for this to work you've got to talk to me okay? That's gonna be a rule."

"A rule?" Calla looked up. Emily nodded and sipped her coffee. "There are rules now?"

"Of course. There's always rules."

"What are the rest?"

"Umm..well let's see, no looking through my case files, or anyone else's." Emily added quickly before Calla could interject. "Or Garcia's computer, anything related to my job really is generally off limits." Calla nodded and continued to eat as Emily went on. "And talking, you've got to tell me stuff, whatever you're thinking, even if you think I might not like it. You can tell me anything."

"Kay, what else?"

"I'll think of some more." Emily said with a wink. Calla just laughed and they finished their food.

Hours later they were starving again and as they lugged their purchases into Emily's apartment. Emily had to practically force the teenager to get half of the things – insisting that they could afford it. Calla was much easier to wear down as the morning dragged on, clearly she was about as fond of shopping as a teenage boy. They successfully had purchased binders for all of her classes, pens, pencils, necessary schoolbooks, and – much to Calla's annoyance – her school uniform.

"They cannot be serious." Calla scoffed as the woman passed over skirts, socks, sweaters and a blazer. The woman frowned at her and Emily gave her a small apologetic smile before lifting her foot and giving Calla a light kick in the butt. "Its hideous." Calla whispered to her.

"I'll kick you again." Emily whispered back. Calla pouted but accepted the clothes, demanding that they be done for the day. Emily sighed, her kid might be awesome, but she was definitely still a teenager. Nothing Emily said seemed to cheer the girl up and she was worried that the rest of their free afternoon would be spent with a moody teen. As they walked into the apartment, Calla ran upstairs to her room right away as Emily's phone rang. "Shit." She cursed as she almost dropped one of the bags trying to answer the phone. "Hello? Oh, hey Jayje. Shit!"

"Emily?" JJ asked. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just dropping things hang on." Emily set the phone down on the counter as she removed the bags from her arms. Picking the phone back up and running her fingers through her hair, she greeted JJ. "Hi, sorry about that."

"Its okay." JJ said with a laugh. "How are things going?"

"Well, she's not thrilled about the uniform."

"Ah..."

"Nothing I say is helping, she won't talk to me, she's just pouting. She's acting more like a five year old than a fifteen year old."

"Well...have you fed her yet?"

"What?"

"Lunch Em, have you guys eaten?"

"No, not yet we just got in." Emily opened her fridge. "I'm kinda low on leftovers. And with the fiasco that was breakfast, I don't feel like setting the smoke alarm off again."

"You set off the smoke alarm!" JJ asked.

"Stop laughing JJ."

"I'm not."

"I can hear you."

JJ did her best to control her giggles before answering. "Come over here."

"What?"

"Lunch, I'm making Henry's lunch now. Will had to go into work and he'll be gone the rest of the afternoon probably. Henry and I could use the company. And I know how to cook, she won't starve. I can talk up the uniform, and if she's acting like a five year old, I deal with that age everyday."

Emily dropped down into a stool in relief. "JJ, this is why I love you."

"I know. Come on over."

"We'll be there in about fifteen?"

"Sounds good."

Emily hung up the phone and called upstairs. "Calla! Grab your coat, we're going to JJ's for lunch!"

"Why?" Was all the reply she got.

"Because she can cook, and Henry wants to meet you."

"Fine." The grumpy teenager said as she stamped down the stairs. "But I'm not babysitting him so you guys can go out somewhere."

"I never said you would be."

"Whatever."

"Calla, drop the attitude please. I know you're not exactly excited about school and the uniform and the tutor, but its happening and it will be fine and sulking isn't going to help."

"Whatever." Calla jammed her arms through her coat and refused the hat Emily tried to hand her. Emily sighed as the teen stormed out to the car.

"Well this is fun." She said to herself sarcastically.

* * *

><p>JJ heard the doorbell ring and Henry's face lit up. "They're here!" He yelled as he jumped down from the table and ran to get the door. JJ wiped her hands on a towel and headed out after him. "Aunt Emily!" She heard him scream in delight. As she rounded the corner she saw her son had jumped up into Emily's arms and was giggling as the brunette profiler tickled him. Her mini-me however was scowling behind her. Arms crossed, not looking anyone in the eye. JJ headed over to her first and ignoring the scowl on her face and the fact that they didn't know each other that well yet, she wrapped her arms around the teenager and pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back slightly.<p>

"Hi Calla, you ready for some real food?" She asked cheerfully. Calla had yet to uncross her arms and it made for one awkward hug, but JJ ignored that too and left an arm around her shoulders, leading her into the house. Henry had noticed the girl who looked suspiciously like his Aunt Emily and grew very curious. He wiggled down out of Emily's arms and stood directly in front of Calla.

"She looks just like you!" He exclaimed to Emily.

"Yes she does." Emily answered with a laugh.

"Cool!" Henry ran over to his mother and Calla and reached up and took hold of one of Calla's hands. "Come on, I'll show you my room." And with that, he pulled the moody teenager along behind him, leaving the two adults alone in the living room.

JJ laughed and copying her son, reached over and pulled Emily along with her into the kitchen. "Still pouting I see?" She asked with a smile.

"This is not fun." Emily moaned into her hands.

"Parenting isn't always fun."

"JJ, you know, most of your advice is so incredibly not helpful its ridiculous."

"Em, no one knows what they're doing. And parents who say they do are lying, because every kid is different. You're gonna do things wrong, you two are going to fight, its inevitable. It sucks, but its going to happen, the sooner you accept it, the sooner you can get over it." Emily made a face and reached over to take a chip off of one of the plates. JJ smacked her hand. "That's not your plate."

"JJ!"

JJ just raised her eyebrows at Emily and grinned. "Henry! Calla! Come down for lunch." She called up the stairs. Next thing they knew, there was cheering and the sound of running footsteps. Calla and Henry appeared moments later; Henry on her back, looking like the best of friends. The teenager who had been moody and scowling only minutes before now had a genuine grin on her face. JJ laughed at the look of astonishment on Emily's face and directed the two kids to the table. Reaching up and plunking Henry from Calla's back, she set him down in his chair. "Kids bounce back very quickly, apparently even teenagers." She whispered to Emily as they all sat down.

The foursome ate their grilled cheese, carrots, apple slices and chips happily. Henry talking a mile a minute to Calla – and the two profilers – about anything and everything. JJ and Emily couldn't help but smile at their children and the apparent change in Calla's mood. Henry grew tired quickly near the end of lunch, he was slowly taking later (and shorter) naps, but he still tuckered out sometime after lunch. Excusing herself, JJ lifted him up and told the brunettes to make themselves comfortable, she would be back down in a few minutes. Henry refused to go up without hugs from both of them, Emily – and Calla – were only too happy to comply with him. JJ took him upstairs as he rambled on about all the fun things he and Calla could do. JJ was thrilled that he took to her so well. As excited as he was, he was even more tired and was practically out cold the minute his head hit the pillow. Tucking the blankets up around him, JJ bent down and placed a kiss on his head before going downstairs.

"He's out cold." She announced as she dropped down onto the couch next to Calla. She draped her arm around the girl and moved the hair out of her face. "He likes you very much." She said with a smile.

"He's cute." Calla answered back.

"Big day tomorrow, you ready?" JJ asked, she figured she might as well jump right in. Calla just shrugged her shoulders and turned her attention down to her hands. JJ and Emily shared a look. "First days are always nerve racking, you're a Prentiss, you'll be fine." JJ said with a smile to Emily. "You both will be."


	19. Chapter 19

**Can we all gush about how insanely adorable AJ Cook's son is? Jack Hotchner better look out, cause Henry Jareau might be the new cutest thing on the planet. Imagine if we got a scene with both of them! The cuteness levels would explode. And on that note, thank you for your comments, hope you continue to enjoy:)**

They were late.

Emily, JJ and Calla had hung out talking throughout Henry's nap. When the blonde boy woke up, his first thought had been Calla. Despite the cold Henry had insisted on dragging Calla outside to his playground; not before JJ bundled both of them up. Calla looked like she was about to protest as JJ came at her with a scarf, hat and gloves, but one look from Emily quieted her. JJ and Emily kept an eye on them through the kitchen window while sipping coffee. Calla was currently pushing Henry on the swings and the little boy was giggling hysterically.

"Does your mother know?" JJ asked, curiously.

"No, well actually, I don't know. I haven't called her yet but she tends to keep an eye on me, so who knows?"

"What do you think her reaction will be?"

Emily shrugged, sipped her coffee and glanced out the window before answering. "She'll probably be angry, more so that I didn't tell her than anything; and she'll probably want to run every check on her possible. Make sure she can keep up appearances and all. I just don't want to put Calla through all of that, at least not until she trust me and feels more at home."

"That makes sense."

Emily and JJ let the two kids play around outside for over an hour before their faces were almost bright red. Henry immediately made himself comfortable in his mother's lap. He seemed confused that Calla sat down a good foot or so away from her mother, instead of on her lap like him. When he voiced his concerns the atmosphere in the room grew slightly awkward.

"I'm a little too big for that." Calla replied.

"You're not that big."

"I am too!" Calla said with a laugh, that caused Henry to giggle.

"Are not!"

"Am too."

"Are not!"

"Henry!" JJ said tickling him. "Cut it out."

Emily and Calla had stayed a little longer before saying goodbye as Will came home for dinner. Emily asked Calla to order pizza while they drove home, and they picked it up on the way. Calla's mood had shifted since that morning and Emily was grateful.

"Can I ask you a favor?" Calla asked when they were almost finished.

"Sure."

"Can I have a say in who my tutor is?"

"Well yes, I'm not going to pick someone you hate; but at the same time, we need to find someone qualified who will help you."

"Can Reid do it?"

Emily laughed. "I don't think he really has the time, but I'm sure if you asked sometimes he would be more than willing to help you. I can't see why you would want it though, he would drive me crazy." Calla smiled. "I'll ask him tomorrow at work, but I want to look into getting you an actual tutor, regularly scheduled."

"Okay."

"Now come on, let's get to bed, we don't want you to be late your first day."

Calla had gone to her bedroom, but had trouble falling asleep. She was not excited about school at all, she missed dance, she didn't know her way around this city, the only people she knew were her mother's coworkers, a seventy-two year old woman and a four year old boy. Calla liked her mother, but she still felt awkward being with her. It seemed like they should just be able to be a mother and a daughter, but they really didn't know each other, and it didn't work that way. Calla wanted it to just stop feeling weird. She hated school, she had never done well, she was stupid and now that Emily knew that, Calla figured it was only a matter of time before it got annoying. Emily wasn't going to want a stupid, loner kid around. She was smart, and interesting and had an important job, Calla was sure to get in the way. She spent half the night worrying and by the time she finally did fall asleep, it was late and she only got a few hours. She had slept through her alarm, Emily burst into her bedroom frantically, yelling about being late and Calla groggily got ready for school. Her uniform was just as awful as she imagined. The pants were the most unflattering things she had ever seen and Calla refused to ever wear them. The skirts would become her new best friend. The blazer was equally awful, so Calla decided to stick with the sweaters. She had no idea how to tie a tie so she just draped it around her neck and ran downstairs, hair still wet. She wasn't a big fan of blow dryers.

Emily chuckled slightly at the sight of her. "Come here." She motioned. Calla complied and Emily reached around her neck and fixed the tie for her. "Every single school I went to had ties as part of the uniform." She explained. "There, you look great."

"Yeah, cause gray is fantastic, even better when its on everyone." Calla retorted. Emily just smiled, handed her some toast and gently shoved her out the door. Food had to be eaten in the car, they were too late for anything else. Emily sped quickly through traffic – something she seemed to be doing much more of now that she had a kid – and they arrived at the school with a minute to spare.

"Okay, good luck, you'll be fine. Just smile and be polite, I'll be here to pick you up at 3:30 and you can hang at the bureau until five unless we get a case."

"Okay." Calla said as she climbed out of the car and slung her backpack over one shoulder.

"Calla?" Emily called to her.

She bent down and stuck her head back through the window. "What?"

"You'll be fine." Emily said with a smile.

"I know."

"See you later."

"Bye."

Mother and daughter each took an identical deep breath, shook their hair and went on. Emily pulling her car out with one last look as her daughter walked up the steps and into the school.

* * *

><p>"Do we have a case?"<p>

"Well, good morning to you too Emily." Rossi said with a smile.

"Morning Rossi." Emily said with a tight smile. She paused for one second, then asked again. "Do we have a case?"

"No."

"Thank god." Emily said, dropping down into her seat.

"Rough morning?"

"No, just rushed."

"Well, now you've got paperwork to look forward to."

"Want to do mine Rossi?"

"Not a chance."

Emily, Rossi, Morgan and Reid dug into their work. Occasionally asking each other questions, taking a coffee run, joking around and doing everything they could to both avoid the work, and get it done as soon as possible. Emily kept glancing at the clock and the hours seemed to drag on slowly. She hoped Calla was doing okay and 3:30 couldn't come fast enough.

* * *

><p>Calla hated lockers, especially old ones. Hers refused to open no matter how many times she kicked it.<p>

"Thats an interesting tactic." Calla turned around to see a boy about her age, short – very styled – brown hair, his uniform was decked out so well that it no longer looked like a uniform, but something belonging on a runway. He smiled at her and stepped forward, swinging his hips. "May I?" He asked with a smirk.

"Be my guest." Calla said stepping out of the way.

"Combination?"

"42-14-25." He expertly spun the lock and within seconds had it opened with a 'voila!' _Yep, definitely gay_. Calla thought. "How the hell did you do that?"

"Well, I didn't kick it."

"Yeah, well I tried actually doing that first."

"Uh hum." He stepped out of the way so Calla could deposit her many books. "I'm Danny." He stuck his hand out. "Welcome to Lincoln."

Calla shook his hand awkwardly and slung her much lighter bag back over her shoulder. "Calla, nice to meet you."

"Calla? Pretty. Is that your full name?"

"Calla Lily Pierce."

"Calla Lily? Much prettier, I'll call you that." Calla frowned, he ignored it. "So, what's your first class?"

"Biology, with..." Calla looked down at her schedule. "Mrs. Hawthorne?"

"That's my first class! Come on, I'll show you. I need a lab partner anyway, my old one is perpetually in detention and wildly homophobic."

"I suck at science, you might be better off."

"I suck too, we can talk about anything else and fail together!"

Calla smiled, she liked this kid, maybe Lincoln wouldn't suck after all.

* * *

><p>Emily had never been more happy to not have a case. She spent the entire morning speeding through her paperwork to try and be mostly done by the time she had to pick up Calla. She had asked Reid about tutoring and he had never looked more thrilled in his life. Already done with his paperwork, he had begun compiling a schedule, topics to discuss, various methods to get the point across and full on lessons for Calla. Seeing his work, Emily was almost convinced to just let Reid tutor her rather than find some stranger looking to make a good 50 bucks an hour. Reid insisted he wanted to and that he would have time, he could set up video lessons for if they had a case and he couldn't do them live. Emily laughed as he ran down to Garcia's office to get set up.<p>

"This is gonna be hilarious." Morgan said as he watched Reid run off.

"Or a disaster." Rossi added.

"I'm hoping for a good idea." Emily answered them.

"Well, I want to watch regardless." Morgan said with a laugh.

Emily responded by throwing her pen at his head with impeccable precision.


	20. Chapter 20

**Sorry guys, this one is really short...**

Calla didn't particularly enjoy her new school; most of the kids were children of workers in DC. Calla found them to be stuck up, cliquey and all incredibly smart. All of her classes were much more advanced than her old school. The teachers all seemed to expect more from them. Four of her teachers had mentioned college and careers afterwords, Calla was a freshman! If it hadn't been for Danny, she would have probably hidden in the bathroom and cried until 3:30. Instead, he found her in between all of the classes they didn't have together – thankfully they had four out of nine – and joked with her. Danny was charming and funny, he seemed to know everything about celebrities, fashion and musical theater. When Calla told him she was a dancer, he shrieked and said that they would have to be on Broadway together. By her last class – despite Danny – Calla was overwhelmed and very close to tears. Her final class of the day was algebra, her teacher, Mr. Franks, took an instant dislike to Calla and made an example of her in front of the whole class. It took everything she had to stop herself from crying. Saying goodbye to Danny quickly, she gathered her things and ran outside, praying Emily would be on time. Seeing her car right out front, Calla ran to it and climbed in as quickly as she could.

"Hey!" Emily greeted her with a beaming smile. "How was your first day?"

"Can we just get out of here?"

"Oh." Emily seemed a little flustered. "Yeah, sure." Emily pulled out of the parking lot, steeling glances at Calla every once in a while during the drive home. She tried to get Calla to talk about her day, but she was afraid that if she said anything she would start to cry.

"It was school. School is school, can't be that different from when you were there." Calla said shortly as they arrived at Emily's apartment.

"Calla..." Emily started.

"I've got a lot of homework." Calla said as she ran upstairs. She closed her door and began to cry. Hearing footsteps coming up the stairs she tried to calm herself down. Emily knocked on the door.

"Calla, are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Calla yelled tearfully.

"Calla, you know I study people's behavior for a living right? I know you're not fine."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Fine, you have twenty minutes to be upset, change your clothes and come downstairs."

"What?"

"You heard me, you have twenty minutes, then come down and we're talking about it."

"That's stupid."

"Well, too bad. Its a new rule, you want to be left alone, fine, but then we're going to talk about it."

"I have homework." Calla protested.

"You can do it down here, I'll help if you need it. Reid is excited about tutoring you."

"He can do it?"

"He's already got lessons planed for college classes." Emily said with a laugh. "I'll see you in twenty minutes, or I will be back up to get you." Emily warned.

Calla shucked her uniform and slipped on some sweatpants and a t-shirt. It was amazing how just getting out of the uniform made her feel better. She was unsure what to do next as that only took her two minutes. She had eighteen left. No one had ever given her a time limit to be upset alone before, she wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to do. Calla simply sat down on her bed and waited. After four minutes went by, she was bored. Getting up, she emptied her backpack of her school things. Seeing the amount of homework she had overwhelmed her all over again and she felt like crying again. This only made her annoyed and for the first time since she met Emily, she had the thought, _'I want my mom.'_

Calla reached over and opened the door. Sitting on the floor, surrounded by her books, she stuck her head out and yelled. "Can I come down now?"

* * *

><p>Emily heard Calla call down and laughed to herself. "Of course!" She yelled back. Next thing she knew, Calla was sprinting downstairs, almost dropping all the books in her hands. She ran right over to Emily dropped the books and began to cry. "Hey! Hey!" Emily said wrapping the girl into a hug. "Shush, Calla, sweetie its okay." Emily and Calla were in a sort of awkward angle for a hug; Emily turned her around and pulled Calla close so she was leaning back into her. Emily rubbed her arms and just sat in the chair letting Calla cry. "What happened?" She asked softly a few moments later.<p>

"Don't make me go back there. I'm too stupid and they're all rich, snobby bitches."

"Hey! First of all, you are not stupid. And you were only there one day, you can't know that everyone is stuck up in that amount of time."

"Its too hard! Look how much homework there is! I was failing at remedial classes in public school, you really think I'm gonna be able to do advanced classes at one of the best private schools in the country!"

"Breathe." Emily said. She smiled as Calla leaned back further, snuggling into Emily a little. "I get that this is overwhelming to you, but I want you to try."

"But..."

"Try. Give it a month. Study with Reid and I'll help you as much as I can, give it a month. After christmas, if you really still hate it, we'll figure something else out."

Calla was silent for a moment, contemplating Emily's offer. Finally, Emily heard the girl whisper, "okay."

Emily grinned and leaned down to kiss Calla's cheek. "Okay."She repeated with a laugh. Mother and daughter stayed that way for a few minutes, enjoying the fact that neither of them felt uncomfortable with the contact. In fact, for the first time since they met, it felt natural. "Want to try and tackle some of this homework, or do you want to bake some cookies?"

"Is that a serious question?" Calla answered back with a laugh.

"Cookies it is!"


	21. Chapter 21

As the week went by, Calla seemed to slowly lessen her hatred for Lincoln Prep. She still hated the classes, and from what she had seen so far, most of the kids were assholes, but Danny was becoming the best friend she ever had. He was flamboyant, loud, funny, and brave; and he and Calla clicked. Still embarrassed about her grades, Calla tried her best to not let Danny know when she had no idea what was going on. He had asked if she wanted to come over and study more than once and she had declined, using Emily saying no as an excuse. By the time the weekend rolled around, Calla felt crappy about it. Barely paying attention to Reid as he spit out equations faster than she could follow, she was gathering up the courage to ask Emily if Danny could come over. Since it was still unknown territory, she just didn't know how Emily would react. She didn't know if she would care that Danny was gay, or just not like him for some reason, or if she just wouldn't want her friends – friend – at her home. Most of her foster parents hadn't really liked it when people came over.

"Calla? Did you get that?" Reid asked.

"Huh? uh...no, I have no idea what you just said."

Emily chuckled from over on the couch and Calla glared at her. "Hey, you wanted him as your tutor, don't look at me."

"Hang on, I can explain it differently!" Calla and Emily watched as Reid shuffled through his messenger bag again. He had taken tutoring Calla very, very seriously. Reading every single book on teaching methods – and he had already read through each of Calla's textbooks for the entire year – he had fully fleshed out plans for every class. Visual methods, plain taking notes, power points – he forced Garcia to help him create – films, music, every different teaching method known to man. He was bound to find one that would connect with Calla specifically. Emily had never loved her friend more. The fact that he went through all this trouble, above and beyond and then some meant more to her than she could express. So when he left her house the night before – Calla had finally gotten some questions right and felt good about herself – Emily wrapped him up in a tight hug.

"Now, biology seems like there is so much information, and your scared to tackle it, but in reality, if you just break it down slowly, it becomes much easier. Now, this diagram..."

Emily watched as Calla listened intently, and then saw the small grin etch onto her daughter's face as she finally understood. Reid was truly brilliant, fifteen years worth of teachers and Calla felt stupid, one week with Reid, and she began feeling better about herself.

When they were finished, Emily ordered chinese and the three of them pigged out and watched Doctor Who – they all geeked out over it equally.

"Can my friend Danny come over tomorrow?" Calla asked during a commercial. She figured Emily might say yes if Reid was still here.

"Sure! Danny is...a boy right? Or is it short for Danielle?"

"He's a boy." Calla hesitated for a moment, then stuffed some lo mein in her mouth. Worried her mother would either think she was trying to shack up with him and get pregnant like her, she decided that conversation would be much more awkward than him being gay. "He's gay." Calla said with her mouth full.

"Oh, okay." Emily answered nonchalantly. "What time is he coming over? Do we need to pick him up?"

Calla grinned. "His mom can drop him off after lunch."

"Sounds good."

After a few more hours of hanging out with Reid, Calla and Emily said goodbye. Calla promised to text him if she needed help with her english homework. Emily said no, she was fantastic at english and she wanted to help! Reid and Calla laughed at her and Calla promised to ask them both before they started bickering about it. As Reid left Calla paused a moment to deliberate then decided to ignore the voice in her head saying she still didn't know Emily. The truth was, she felt like she did know Emily, better than before anyway, a well enough to hug her when she wanted. Wrapping her arms around her mother's waist tightly she smiled into her shoulder.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"For what?" Emily asked, surprised. She wasn't about to question a hug when it came, but she was a little confused.

"For letting Danny come over."

"Oh, sure."

Calla was still hugging Emily and she wondered if maybe there was something more to the hug, but just as she was about to ask, Calla pulled away and ran upstairs. "I'm going to bed early! I want to get up and get ready for when Danny gets here!" She yelled over her shoulder. Emily just laughed and following her daughter's example, going to bed as well. Two hyper, teenagers early in the morning was not something she wanted to handle on little sleep.

* * *

><p>Emily heard shrieking laughter from upstairs for about the millionth time that day. She was on the couch going through case files. Their last case, a man trying to recreate his dead brother from other boys body parts had shaken everyone. She hated when she felt bad for the unsub. He watched his older brother die, and then his grave was destroyed by the very thing that killed him. His life had been awful. It was easier when they were just evil for no reason sometimes. Hotch had given them all the weekend off, and it was greatly appreciated.<p>

Danny's mother dropped him off exactly at noon – she smiled as she muttered he was insistent on being on time as the two of them, ran upstairs. Emily and Julie (Danny's mother) sat down and talked for a few minutes as the kids turned music on.

"So, Danny mentioned your in the FBI?"

"Yeah, the Behavioral Analysis Unit. My team and I work up psychological profilers on serial killers."

"Jezz, I make jewelry from my house."

Emily laughed. "That must be nice, sometimes the travel and hours are awful."

"It is nice to make my own hours, and it worked great when Danny was little, but its not always the most exciting thing in the world."

Emily liked Julie, she had a sort of bohemian vibe, loved her kid, and was also a single mom. She was also very adapt at getting people to open up to her, despite Emily's reluctance to do so on a normal basis, Julie got her too. By the time Calla and Danny came downstairs hunting for junk food, Emily and Julie were laughing on the couch.

"What is happening?" Calla whispered to Danny as they looked at their mothers oddly.

"They've become friends. Which could either help us, or make our lives miserable, I haven't decided yet."

"Lets hope for the best." Calla answered him. To her mother she yelled out. "We're hungry, are their anymore of JJ's cheetos here?"

"On top of the fridge. Don't eat them all, JJ will whine about it."

Calla smiled and Danny hoisted her up to reach the chips and the two of them bounded back off to Calla's room.

* * *

><p>As the weeks went by Emily grew happier and happier. Calla was thriving under Reid's tutelage and having Danny as a friend. The week before, she and Calla had gone searching for a new dance studio and the one they had found had been deemed perfect by Calla and Danny. Good lord dance was expensive! But Emily didn't mind, and she could afford it. The cases began piling up and Emily was more and more grateful to Julie. She was perfectly happy to have Calla spend the weekend with them when Emily was gone. During the week it was much easier to stick with Margie, as the one time Calla spent three days with Julie and Danny during the week, the two teens got maybe five hours of sleep between them.<p>

Emily made sure that no matter where she was, she talked to Calla at least twice a day. Wether by text or phone call, she refused to not be available. She knew her job was extremely difficult just as a single person, adding a child into the mix was certainly a struggle; but Emily refused to be her mother. She could be successful at both. It took work, but she was doing it.

Emily and Calla had met with Dianne Jennings for a home visit the week before. Thankfully, Emily had just come off of a case, so she wouldn't be called to leave again for a few days. She had made sure to give Hotch ample notice and made it clear that if the team got called, she would have to sit this one out. Hotch had been fantastic about it. The whole team had. Calla loved them all. Reid and JJ seemed to be her favorites, but Garcia and Morgan weren't far behind. It was hilarious to watch her interact with Hotch and Rossi. When the team didn't have a case, Calla would often come to the bureau after one of her many dance classes to work with Reid. He was always finished with his paperwork by that point. Now that Calla actually began understanding things, Emily could see the change in her confidence. She was great at english and history – Emily's best subjects – and was working hard to get caught up in math and science. While she clearly didn't love either, Reid made it a point to find interesting, obscure facts to tell her that caught her interest and almost tricked her into learning the rest. Emily didn't even know how to express her thanks, he wouldn't let her pay him anything for it, so he opted to buy him coffee and frequently. Reid was proud, but he was never one to refuse coffee and Emily took full advantage of that.

The meeting with Calla's social worker had gone very well. They were really only one step away from Calla being officially adopted by Emily. There would be one more home visit around Christmas and if all went well, by the new year, Calla could be hers.

Emily had been terrified. She knew that Dianne had been on her side before, but the realities of how much Emily was gone, Calla's grades and her own fears about her ability to be a parent all hit her at once the second her doorbell rang. Calla, who was used to home visits like this ran to greet Dianne and immediately took her upstairs to show the redhead woman her room. Apparently, this was a routine for them. Emily had to run to catch up. Calla chatted away a mile a minute, showing Dianne her new bookshelf – Emily's copies of Harry Potter were all front and center – her posters, school uniform, how bouncy her bed was – which earned her a glare from Emily and a laugh from Dianne. Emily gave her a tour of the house, doing her best to hide her nerves. When Dianne asked to speak to Calla alone in her room for a few minutes Emily agreed and went downstairs wanting to throw up. As she waited for them to come back down, she ran everything they had said in her head. Emily couldn't lose Calla now, she loved her. She would quit her job, transfer to some part of the bureau where she would have nine to five hours. It would suck, she would miss the team, but she would do it if she had to. The second Dianne walked downstairs, Emily spoke up.

"I can get a transfer and be here more."

Dianne laughed gently and walked over to Emily. Placing a hand on her arm, she tried to calm the brunette down. "You don't need to do that. Calla is happier than I have ever seen her. Her grades are up, rather significantly for only a few weeks I might add. She had grown attached to your team, especially a...Dr. Reid?" Emily nodded and smiled. "She loves Margie, in her words, she is 'one badass old lady'" Emily burst out in a laugh with Dianne at that one. "She's making friends, she's back in dance, and she cares about you. She wants to be here."

Emily finally made eye contact with Dianne. "Really?" She whispered.

"Did you really have any doubts? She couldn't stop talking about you! She went on and on about all of the interesting things you've done, how much you listen to her when she talks, I've never seen her this attached to anyone. She clearly loves you, and loves living here. Our next meeting is really just a formality, she's yours Miss. Prentiss."


	22. Chapter 22

**This ones short, hope you enjoy:)**

As soon as Dianne left Emily's phone rang. Not bothering to look at the caller id, she answered it.

"Prentiss."

"Emily, how are you?"

"Mother!" Emily involuntarily straightened her back. "I'm doing well, and you?"

"Well lets see, I found out recently that my daughter is filing for adoption of a fifteen year old girl. Might that be the very same one you gave up?"

"Yes Mother." Emily answered in a strained voice.

"How could you let me find out from a secretary? Really Emily, I raised you better than this."

Emily kicked her wall slightly in frustration. "Really? I don't remember that. I remember you away in meetings and constantly unreachable."

"Emily, now is not the time."

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Emily bit her lip. "Was that the only reason you called? To confirm what you heard?"

"No."

"Well then, what can I do for you Mother?"

"I need to meet this child. There are all sorts of legal issues we are going to need to work out, among other things she needs to know how to behave herself in public. I've already suffered greatly due to your little stunt faking your death, we can't have a repeat with that."

* * *

><p>Calla had been about to come downstairs as the phone had rung. Hearing Emily exclaim it was her mother and seeing the change in her demeanor, Calla had been curious. Rather than come down and interrupt, Calla sat down out of Emily's sight at the top of the stairs. Calla could only hear Emily's side of the conversation, but it was clear that she and her mother didn't get along. Calla already knew this, but it was one thing to hear about it, another to see the instant change in her mother. Whatever she had just said to Emily caused further reacting from trying to hide her anger, to Emily being completely and utterly pissed off. Calla could easily see a murderer running away scared shitless from this woman.<p>

Emily spoke in a very controlled, low, but very angry voice, which was much more frighting than if she were to yell. Emily's mother spoke back and Calla watched as Emily stood, straight back, biting her lip, and agreed to come spend Thanksgiving with them. As Emily hung up the phone, Calla stood up from the steps and walked downstairs.

"We're going to your moms for Thanksgiving?" She asked.

Emily turned around, a little flustered, but sighed and put on a strained smile. "Yes, my mother wants to meet you."

Unsure of how she felt about meeting her grandmother, Calla walked slowly towards the window. It had begun to snow, the first real one of the year. Calla watched, wondering if it would stick or not. She could feel Emily watching her and waiting for her to respond. "Its snowing." Calla said, stating the obvious.

"Calla...is that okay with you?" Emily came up behind her, watching Calla instead of the snow.

Calla just shrugged. "Its fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Do _you_ want to?" Calla asked, finally looking up at her mother.

"Not really." Emily said with a small laugh. Calla grinned. "But, she's only going to persist and it might be easier to get it over with. Thanksgiving is the easy one to do with her, meal at one on the dot, and if your not done by the time 2:30 rolls around, you pretend you are. She goes back to work, my father retreats to his study, we'll be home free."

"So just eating quick and then we can leave?"

"Well, she wants us there at noon, but if you want to leave at anytime you just let me know and we're out of there."

"JJ said the team always does Thanksgiving." Calla whined a little. She had been looking forward to it since JJ brought it up. Now that Calla knew the team, and liked everyone, she wanted to actually spend a holiday with a big bunch of people who liked having her around. Plus, Calla loved Henry and wanted to meet Jack.

"Yeah, but later. We head over there sometime around five usually, leftovers, deserts and football."

"Oh, okay then. I guess it'll be fine."

"That'a girl." Emily said bumping her hip into Calla's. Laughing, Calla returned the favor.

"So...Dianne said things look good." Calla said softly, looking to the ground.

Emily beamed. "Yes, yes she did."

Mother and daughter were silent for a few moments. Unsure of what to say to each other, they simply stood and watched the snow fall.

"Want to watch _Doctor Who_? The one with the weeping angels is on." Calla asked after a couple of minutes.

"You're on, I'll make some popcorn!"


	23. Chapter 23

**Okay, Thanksgiving is going to be split into two chapters; the Prentiss clan and then the team. This is a super short update until then, I'm working on the other two right now and they will be up soon, most likely either on, or a day or two before Thanksgiving. Hope you enjoy:) And thank you again to all of you, both who comment and who don't, it means a lot that anyone is interested. Without further ado..**

Calla and Danny were in Calla's room, Emily was in San Francisco working on a case. Margie had checked in on the two teenagers fifteen minutes ago, and Julie was going to come pick them up for dinner in an hour. Calla was getting used to Emily being gone. She had been frightened the first couple of times, but now that she trusted and liked Margie, and Julie was around; she was fine. Plus, she could always call Garcia, even if she was busy with the case, Calla could hang out and read a book with headphones on – as long as she didn't pay any attention to what Garcia was working on. She missed Emily, but she called everyday without fail, usually more than once, and she texted her constantly. It didn't really feel like she was gone most of the time.

Danny was sprawled out on Calla's bed, while she leaned against it on the floor. Bernadette Peters was belting out about losing her mind from love in the background. Because of Danny, Calla had grown a newfound appreciation for musicals and their stars. Bernadette was by far Calla's favorite, she was even considering dying her hair red and getting a perm. Danny was full on against it.

"Bernadette herself is quoted as saying, 'you've gotta be original, because if you're like someone else, what do they need ya for?' besides, you have fantastic hair. Its already curly, and its a gorgeous shade of dark brown. Too bad you don't have your mom's hair though, that jet black is fantastic, though dark brown does seem to fit your complexion better. Does your dad have brown hair?"

Calla shrugged. "Yeah I think so."

"You've never met him?"

"No, he doesn't want to meet me." Calla tilted her head up so she could see Danny. "Have you met yours?"

"Yeah, he left when I was eight. He kept telling my mom I was too feminine and that she was gonna turn me gay. She didn't do anything but let me do whatever I wanted. He knows I'm gay, he doesn't talk to us anymore."

"Asshole." Calla said through gritted teeth.

Danny just shrugged. "Yeah, but if he's not gonna love me as me then he's not someone I want around ya know? Plus, my mom is awesome, I don't really need anyone else."

"Yeah, I guess that's true."

"Are you freaking out about meeting your grandparents?" Danny asked while flipping through a magazine. Calla just shrugged again and closed her eyes. Honestly, she was completely freaked out, not as nervous as she had been to meet Emily, but it felt similar. These were rich, proper people, Emily was part of this educated, cultured, wealthy world, Calla grew up in small towns, apartments and trailer parks. She had no clue how to act around them, and to have a fancy thanksgiving dinner was nerve-racking. Calla's last couple thanksgivings had consisted of chinese food, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and some sliced turkey rolled up with cheese. Nothing anywhere near the four course meal it sounded like Ambassador Prentiss had set up. She also was very unsure of how to address her, Mrs. Prentiss? Ambassador? Elizabeth? She just wanted it to be over with already.

"I don't wanna talk about them. I wanna dance." Calla said jumping up and changing the song. Danny grinned as the song began to play and jumped up on her bed, dancing and singing along.

"I got the moves like Jagger!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. Calla beamed at him and jumped up on the bed beside Danny. She had a feeling Emily wouldn't exactly love them jumping on the bed, but technically, they were dancing, not jumping, so she decided it was okay. Plus, Emily wasn't here, there had to be some sort of benefit to having a mother who traveled frequently. Calla wasn't holding parties, drinking beer or having sex, so she figured a little rebellion was required.


	24. Chapter 24

**And here we go, a Prentiss Thanksgiving...**

Calla was tapping again. Emily caught it out of the corner of her eye, her daughter was wordlessly counting, staring forward at the door and tapping away like a maniac. It was beyond adorable, but Emily lowered her hand and held her knee in place. Calla let out a nervous and mumbled 'sorry' and Emily just smiled at her. She reached out and took Calla's hand in hers, giving it a tight squeeze to calm her down. Calla clutched her hand and as soon as the door opened, she unconsciously stood closer to Emily, almost as if hiding behind her. Emily would be lying if she didn't admit she loved that Calla felt comfortable and safe with her now, even at the expense of her being nervous.

"Miss Emily" An older woman greeted them. "How are you?"

"I'm fine Nadia, how are you?"

"I'm doing well." She smiled down at Calla, who was still halfway behind Emily and holding onto her hand for dear life. "And this must be Miss Calla, its very nice to meet you sweetheart."

"Hi." Calla whispered.

"Shy little one?" Nadia said looking up to Emily. She just smiled as Calla looked exceedingly uncomfortable. "Well, come on in, they're in the parlor."

"Thank you Nadia." Emily and Calla shucked their coats and hung them up in the hall closet. Calla immediately placed herself as close to her mother as she could get without touching her. She wanted nothing more than to grab her hand again, but she thought it would make her seem like a baby. Before they left the hall, Emily paused and turned to Calla. "Don't let her frighten you, it will be fine, just be yourself, she'll love you." Calla nodded and took a deep breath. "You ready?" Emily asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay, let's go." Emily and Calla walked side by side into the parlor, which to Calla looked a lot like a glorified den where you couldn't touch anything.

"Emily, your late." Elizabeth said as they entered the room.

"Elizabeth, you could at least say hello first." Michael Prentiss said as he bent over and placed a kiss on Emily's cheek.

"Hello dear." Elizabeth said, not making any movements to greet her. Calla felt them both staring and she slid her hand into Emily's.

"So, this is her?" Michael nodded towards Calla as he sipped his scotch.

"Mother, Father, this is my daughter, Calla Lily Pierce."

"Pierce? Really Emily? Why doesn't she bear your name?" Elizabeth asked in an annoyed tone.

"Its not officially legal yet Mother. Pierce was her adoptive name."

"Well, you'll change it naturally?"

"Whatever Calla wants."

"Would you like a drink Emily?" Her father asked her.

"No thank you, I drove."

"I would have sent a car."

"That's not necessary."

Elizabeth studied Calla closely, Michael didn't seem all that interested as he plopped himself down onto a chair and downed his glass. Emily seemed to be having some sort of wordless stare down fight with her mother as Calla glanced around the room. Everything looked old, or extremely expensive, nothing about it looked lived in. Whatever kind of conversation Emily and Elizabeth had been having, Emily seemed to have won for now, and she pulled Calla along gently with her to sit on the empty couch. Elizabeth stood over them and continued watching Calla.

"Is she mute?" Elizabeth asked. Emily glared at her mother. "What? She hasn't spoken one word."

"Well, why don't you sit down, or maybe ask her a question?"

Huffing – in an oddly sophisticated manner – Elizabeth sat down across from them. "So, Calla, you have no qualms about Emily not being around for the first fifteen years of your life?"

"Mother!"

Calla was completely shocked and had no idea how to respond to that. Instead of answering, Calla whispered, "where's the bathroom?"

"Speak up child, you'll never get anywhere in life if no one can hear you. And the restroom is down the hall." Calla stood up and had to stop herself from sprinting out of the room. She could hear Emily and Elizabeth arguing as she went into the hallway. Calla decided to take as long as possible to avoid having to go back there. She looked at the pictures on the walls, most of them were artwork and photography. There were no pictures of people, and none of Emily. Finally finding the bathroom, Calla gasped a little as she went in. The bathroom was bigger than her entire bedroom. For some reason, Calla really wanted to sit in the bathtub. It looked like a miniature swimming pool. Calla relieved herself and washed her hands, feeling odd using the fancy soap. With one last glance at the tub, she decided she might as well, she certainly didn't want to go back to talk to her grandmother. With a little devilish grin, Calla stepped into the tub, shoes, clothes and all and leaned back to get comfortable.

* * *

><p>"Mother, how can you be so horrible?" Emily asked for the second time.<p>

"Don't talk to me like that Emily. You're the one that got pregnant. Speaking of which, I hope to god you have been monitoring her. The last thing we need is for her to repeat your actions."

"You are unbelievable." Emily yelled.

"Don't raise your voice at me young lady."

Emily stood up angrily and looked to her father. "I'm going to check on Calla."

"Hurry back, dinner will be ready in a few moments."

"I know mother, One o'clock as usual." Emily went down the hallway to the closest bathroom, knocking gently on the door she heard a quiet, 'who is it?' "Its me." Emily said.

"Come in."

Emily opened the door and had to stop herself from laughing. Calla was crouched down in the empty bathtub, looking like a small child. "What are you doing?" Emily asked with a smile. Calla just shrugged. Not even thinking about it, Emily walked over and climbed into the tub as well, causing Calla to grin. "Its almost time for dinner." Emily stated.

"Okay." Calla whispered.

"This is how she processes things. Lashes out, its her way of protecting herself."

"Okay."

The two of them sat quietly hugging their knees in the empty bathtub for a few more moments before Emily could hear Calla's stomach growling. "You ready to eat?"

"Sure."

"One thing I can say is that this food is going to be fantastic."

"Will there be mashed potatoes?" Calla asked with a smile.

"The best you will ever have." Emily said standing up. She reached down and pulled Calla along with her, giving her a light smack on the butt. "Off we go!"

"Can't wait." Calla said sarcastically.

They walked in and sat down at the large formal table. Michael was at one end, Elizabeth at the other, and two chairs were set up across from each other in the center. Calla groaned internally, she wanted to sit next to Emily, not across from her. With a reassuring pat on her back, Emily pushed her gently down into her seat, then went to sit herself. Calla looked at Emily in a panic as the salad was brought out, Emily just smiled and motioned discreetly to the right fork.

"So, what school have you enrolled her in?" Michael asked as they began eating. Emily noticed he was on his third glass of scotch.

"Lincoln Prep."

"That's supposed to be a wonderful school. How are you preforming there young lady?" He addressed Calla. Emily caught her eye and tried to send good vibes to her. She knew that the girl was embarrassed about her poor grades; Emily also knew she was working very, very hard to improve them. Emily couldn't be more proud, but she knew her mother wouldn't feel the same way.

"Okay I guess." Calla whispered into her plate.

"Young lady, look at someone when you talk to them." Elizabeth chided.

"Sorry." Calla mumbled. Nadia came out and took their plates away and brought in the main course. Dishing out, white turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, and gravy. "Thank you." Calla said, smiling as Nadia handed her the plate.

"You're very welcome sweetie."

"Well, at least she has good manners." Elizabeth muttered. Emily glared at her, she couldn't take much more of this.

The foursome ate silently for a few minutes, the clink of silverware was all Emily remembered from her childhood dinners. Stiff, quiet, cold, and awkward, not what she wanted for Calla at all. She was regretting agreeing to bring Calla here.

"So, what exactly is the plan here?" Elizabeth asked when everyone was about mostly done.

"Plan for what Mother?"

"This situation. You are not legally her mother are you? Isn't there some sort of problem at all with the fact that you gave her up initially? Or the fact that you are a single woman who travels more than she is home? What do you do with her when your on cases? Please tell me you are not so irresponsible as to leave a fifteen year old child alone. For all we know, we could be great grandparents in a matter of months! No one has any issue with the fact that you went so far as to fake your own death? There is also the issue of her trust fund. We were under the impression that she wasn't part of our family once you gave her away and we don't have one set up for her. I'll need to speak with your lawyer regarding her records. Really Emily, have you thought this through at all? You met her what, a few months ago? Sharing DNA does not guarantee she is a good person. This is all just very fast don't you agree dear?"

"Mother, I..." Emily was shaking from anger. Calla had tears in her eyes and for the first time in her life, Emily actually wanted to smack her mother. "I cannot believe you."

"Elizabeth is this really the time? We haven't even had desert yet." Michael stated as his way of intervening.

"When is the time Michael? After she's adopted this girl? We need to discuss this now!"

"Discuss? Mother we are not going to discuss anything. I am a grown woman, it is _my_ choice and I am adopting my daughter. You may have been able to frighten me into listening to you when I was fifteen, but it sure as hell isn't going to work now. You have absolutely no say in the matter."

"I beg to differ. You make irresponsible decisions Emily. Get pregnant at fifteen, sleep with terrorists for your casework, travel and leave your child alone, your not fit to be a mother."

"And you are?" Emily heard Calla yell. All three Prentiss' froze and looked at the young girl. She wore an expression of fury that topped both Elizabeth and Emily's. No longer was the teenager shy, crying or looking down at her plate. She stood up, shoved her plate roughly away from her and glared at her grandmother. "All you ever did was make her feel like shit, and your still doing it. Its your fault that I didn't have her before now. _You_ made her give me away. She's not irresponsible, she's brave, and smart, and fun, and she actually cares about me. She's my mom and I love her, she's your daughter, you should love her too."

"Who says I don't?"

"You sure as shit don't know how to show it!"

"Young lady I will not have you speak to me that way."

"I'll speak to you however the fuck I want!"

"Calla..." Emily warned.

"I want to go now." Calla said, lowering her voice. Emily nodded. She stood up and went over to Calla. Taking her hand she began to lead her daughter out of the room, but Calla yanked her back. "Tell her you're sorry." Calla said forcefully to her grandmother. Emily looked on in confusion and shock.

"Excuse me?" Elizabeth asked.

"I'm not leaving until you tell her you're sorry. Tell her that she is a hero and your proud of her."

"Emily, I will not be spoken to like that, teach her some manners."

"Your a raging bitch." Calla spat out.

"Emily! Get her out of here!" Elizabeth yelled angrily.

"Okay, come on." Emily said putting her arm around her daughter and pulling her out of the living room. Silently, they walked to the hall and got their coats and walked outside to Emily's car. Emily didn't know what to say to Calla, she didn't have any words. She just sat in the driver's seat and stared out at her mother's house. She could feel Calla's gaze on her from the passenger seat, but she remained silent.

"Mom?" Calla whispered. Emily froze, Calla had never called her mom before. "I'm sorry I called you mother a bitch, but you have to admit, she kind of is."

Emily turned to face her daughter and just looked at her. _Her_ daughter. This was _her_ daughter. Her daughter just called her mom for the first time. She called her mom for the first time and called her mother out on all of her bullshit within two hours of meeting her; something Emily hadn't been brave enough to do in over thirty years. God her kid was wonderful. Emily broke into a grin and then found herself beginning to laugh hysterically.

Calla watched her mother fall into a giggling fit in slight horror. She couldn't figure out if this was a good thing or a bad thing, she opted for good and began laughing along with her mom. After almost fifteen minutes, neither of them could breath and they slowly calmed down. Still sitting in the Prentiss driveway, they both looked up at the house.

"Well, you survived a Prentiss Thanksgiving, your really one of us now."

Calla turned to her mother and grinned. "Good."

"Ready to head over to JJ's?"

"We're too early."

"I doubt she'll mind."

"Okay."

Emily turned the car on and pulled out of the driveway. Steeling glances at Calla out of the corner of her eye, she caught her staring back.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"What you said to my mother in there."

"I meant it. You're a good mom."

Emily smiled to herself as she drove on to meet the team. Her real family. Her real family with her daughter who had called her mom. Thanksgiving wasn't so bad after all.


	25. Chapter 25

**And now for the team thanksgiving! Hope you enjoy, and hope you had a good holiday:)**

JJ heard the doorbell ring and grinned as Henry ran announcing that Calla was here. Emily had called her a few minutes before and asked if it was alright for them to come earlier than expected. JJ didn't get many details, but it sounded as if the dinner with her parents hadn't gone very well. JJ, Will and Henry were finishing their dinner as she called and didn't mind at all.

Will smiled at JJ as she headed off to catch Henry and greet Emily and Calla. "Hi guys, come on in." She said as Henry opened the door.

"Aunt Emily! Calla! We had turkey!" Henry announced as she lunged himself at the two of them. "You guys are the first ones here!"

"Henry, why don't you take Calla up to your room and read a story?" JJ asked him, looking at Calla to make sure she was okay with it. Happily, the two kids bounded off and JJ pulled a weary looking Emily into the house. "So?" She prompted.

"It went worse than I could have imagined. She was...just fucking awful to her. I don't think I've ever been that angry in my life."

"How's Calla?"

"She gave it right back to her, then called me mom for the first time." Emily said with a proud grin.

JJ and Will smiled at the news. "Really?" JJ asked. Emily nodded and accepted the cup of coffee from Will. The three of them sat back down at the table. "That's...well thats kind of amazing."

"Yeah, I just hope she's okay. My mother is so harsh, especially if your not used to it and she was beyond horrible, far worse then I can remember her being to me."

"A night with the team and she'll be fine. Everyone here loves her Emily and she knows it."

"I know. I just...it sucks."

"Seeing your kids in pain always sucks." Will said, sipping his coffee. "But there's no way to avoid it."

"Will's right." JJ agreed.

The three adults looked up at the sound of footsteps to see Calla descending the stairs. "He fell asleep." She announced. "We didn't even make it through one story. I got him to brush his teeth first though."

"Really?" JJ asked happily. Calla just nodded and went to sit down in between JJ and Emily. "Thank you sweetie." JJ said, brushing some of Calla's hair out of her face.

"Want some hot cocoa?" Will asked her.

"Yes please."

Will got up to make it as JJ and Emily chatted about their time off. Supposedly they would have the next two days. Calla had four days off, and Emily was going to bring her along to work; Reid had 'games' planed for her tutoring sessions. Whatever made her happy to study was fine with Emily, she didn't care, she trusted Reid.

JJ noticed Calla nodding off into her cocoa. "Hey, do you want to lie down in our bed for a little while? I'll wake you up when the rest of the team gets here."

"I'm not tired." Calla protested.

"Yeah, that's why your using a mug as a pillow." Emily said sarcastically. "Come on, you sleep now, you'll be able to stay awake longer with us later." Emily wrapped her arms around Calla and hoisted her up by armpits. "Up you go."

"Come on, I'll show you." JJ said. "That okay?" She asked Emily. She nodded and JJ took Calla upstairs. "So, Emily tells me you had an eventful morning."

"Her mom's a bitch."

JJ chuckled and gave Calla a light swat. "I doubt you should talk about your grandmother that way."

"Have you ever met her?"

"Yeah, once, but I didn't really speak to her."

"Well, she's awful. I don't know how Emily turned out to be such a good person."

"Emily huh?" JJ asked as they entered her bedroom. "I heard it was mom now."

Calla fiddled with her fingers uncomfortably. "Yeah, that sorta slipped out. I think I freaked her out."

"What?" JJ moved over and pulled Calla into a tight hug. "Calla, I think you made her day."

"Its weird."

JJ pushed Calla away so she could see her face. "Do you want to call her mom?"

"Kinda."

"Calla, Emily doesn't care, call her whatever makes you comfortable." Calla refused to meet JJ's eye. "Calla, just because you said it once, doesn't mean you have to say it from now on."

"No?"

"No."

"Okay."

"Alright, take a nap and I'll wake you up when the rest of the team gets here."

"Okay." Calla climbed into the bed and let JJ tuck her in without grumbling about it. She knew JJ was used to a four year old, she could let herself be babied a little.

* * *

><p>Calla woke up to a blonde four year old sitting on her chest. "Hi." Henry greeted her happily.<p>

"How did you get there without me waking up?"

"I'm a ninja."

"Really?" Calla asked with a smirk.

"Yeah! Guess what?"

Calla reached out and lifted him slightly so she could sit up, then plopped him back down on her lap. "What?"

"Everyone's here! And there is chocolate downstairs! But Mommy said we can't have it yet."

"That stinks."

"I know. Jack's outside."

"Outside the house?"

"No silly, the room. He said since he doesn't know you as good as I know you he'd wait till you woked up."

"Woke."

"What?"

"Its woke up. Not woked."

"Oh. Want me to get Jack?"

"Sure."

"JACK!" Henry yelled. Calla turned her head away from the yelling child and grinned at Jack as he came in the room shyly. Calla had only met him once before, but he was possibly the most adorable – calmest – kid she had ever met.

"Hey Jack." She greeted him.

"Hi." He said with a small wave. "There's chocolate downstairs."

"I heard."

"We have to wait." Henry pouted.

Calla smirked. "I thought you were a ninja Henry."

Jack's eyes lit up as he got Calla's idea. Henry, the youngest didn't quite get what Calla and Jack were smiling about, but if they were happy he was determined to be too. The three kids stealthily tip toed down the stairs and accessed the situation. All the adults were sitting in the living room. If they timed it correctly and were quick and quiet about it, they could sneak by. Jack insisted on having a meeting first, giving out code names and jobs. Henry was dubbed Shorty – to his great annoyance – and he almost yelled and outed them. Jack finally agreed to let Henry pick his own name – Captain Lizard – and the four year old happily took his orders from then on out. Calla let the boys pick her code name and ended up with Baloo – Henry and Jack were both big Jungle Book fans – while Jack picked Hercules. The three of them crouched down and half crawled down the stairs single file. Jack first, Henry second, and Calla bringing up the rear; on strict orders from Jack to pick up Henry and run if need be.

Calla felt a little ridiculous crawling around on the floor with an eight and four year old calling herself Baloo; but she actually was having a blast. Calla decided to just screw it and have fun. She reached out and tickled Henry slightly causing him to giggle and Jack to glare at them. He was clearly the boss.

"We gotta get past the couch." Jack said as they sat on the floor, hidden from the living room.

"Should we just run for it?" Calla asked.

"Not all at once. One at a time. I'll go first." The three of them stuck their heads around the corner and waited until no one was looking. Jack took his shot and made a mad dash for the kitchen, making it just in time. Calla quickly pulled Henry out of the line of sight and covered his giggling mouth. They waited a second before peaking into the room again. Jack watched intently and signaled for Calla to pick up Henry. Covering his protesting mouth, she held him tightly and ran when Jack waved her over.

"I wanted to do it myself!" Henry protested as the three of them moved deeper into the kitchen.

"You can be the one we lift up to get the chocolate!" Jack told him.

"Yeah!" Calla said, grinning at him like it was the best job in the world.

"Okay." Henry agreed.

Calla bent down and Henry climbed onto her back while Jack was lookout. Henry and Calla together weren't tall enough that way, so Calla shifted him around and he crawled onto her shoulders instead. She couldn't help but giggle as he accidentally tickled her and knocked her hair into her face.

"Shush!" Jack whispered at them.

"Henry, hurry up." Calla warned him.

"There's a lot. What do I get?"

"All of it." Calla said with a serious face. Chocolate was not something to mess around with, all or nothing, especially if she had to share with two boys under the age of ten.

"Hurry!" Jack whispered loudly.

"We're trying." Calla answered back as Henry accidentally kicked her in the chest.

"I can't hold it all myself." Henry said in a panic.

"Jack! Get something to put it in." Calla told him.

"But I have to be lookout."

"Are they coming?"

"No, they're all sitting and drinking coffee."

"Well then hurry!"

Frowning – and looking eerily like Hotch – Jack left his post and dug around for a bag. Finding a canvas grocery bag, he held it out for Henry to drop the candies in. All three children were so focused on getting the chocolate in the bag, that they didn't notice the people gathering behind them.

"Um, hum." Someone cleared their throat behind them. Each kid froze in place. Jack slowly turned his head and saw his dad, and aunts and uncles all looking on with amused faces. His father crossed his arms and stared. Jack momentarily contemplated dropping the bag, but thought better of it. Calla very slowly turned her body – and Henry's, who was still clutching handfuls of candy – and gulped at the sight. Henry was the only one who didn't seem phased by the appearance of his parents and aunts and uncles at all. In fact he grinned and chucked the rest of the candy from his hands into the bag still clutched in Jack's.

"What do we do?" Jack whispered up to them. None of the adults had yet to speak.

"You decided to be the boss!" Calla reminded him. "You tell me."

"I don't know!" He yelped.

"RUN!" Henry shouted and clutched Calla's head tightly. She momentarily thought about bolting, but knew there was no way in hell she would get past six FBI agents, a cop and a technical analyst. Well, Garcia she could take, and maybe, Will or Reid if she really tried, but she would never get past the rest of them. "Why aren't you running?" Henry whined.

"Where do you want me to run to? They're blocking the door." Calla answered him as Jack strategically placed himself slightly behind Calla.

"What are you all doing?" Hotch asked.

"Umm..." Jack began.

"We're on a mission!" Henry yelled out happily. "We've got code names and everything!"

"Code names?" Emily asked bemused. "What are they?"

Calla refused to meet anyone's eye, this was beyond embarrassing.

"I'm Captain Lizard, this is Hercules, and Baloo!" Henry supplied for them. Calla and Jack just groaned.

Emily, Hotch and JJ exchanged glances and then burst out into laughter, followed by the rest of the team. Henry and Jack smiled, thinking they were in the clear, but Calla wasn't so sure. Hotch walked over and took the bag from Jack – still grinning – and set it back on top of the fridge. He ushered the three chocolate thieves into the living room without another word. Garcia and Morgan were still laughing hysterically. As Calla passed JJ, she plucked her child off of her shoulders and gave Calla's butt a small smack. Emily just shook her head, to amused to say anything, and wrapped her arm around her daughter and pulled her down on the couch with her.

"I'm afraid to ask, but who came up with the names? And why?" Morgan asked as they all sat down.

"I came up with mine! And Calla's!" Henry yelled happily.

"No! I helped with Calla's." Jack protested. "And I came up with mine." He said proudly to his father. "Also, I was the boss."

"Its true. But I got the chocolate." Henry reminded him.

"Would anyone believe I was forced against my will?" Calla asked hopefully.

Emily laughed. "Not a chance."

"Worth a shot." Calla mumbled.

The group sat happily, talking about anything and everything besides their jobs. At some point football was turned on, and JJ and Morgan began to yell. Calla was thoroughly amused at how into football JJ was. It didn't interest her at all, and she moved over to talk to Reid. They got a game of chess going, and Calla hated it. Reid was fantastic and Calla didn't even know the rules. She looked at her mother helplessly and then grinned as Emily agreed to be on her team.

"You can't have a team member!" Reid protested.

"What the matter kid, you afraid they'll beat you?" Morgan asked with a grin.

"Not a chance!" Reid answered and made his first move. Luckily, Emily was pretty good at chess herself, and she offered many suggestions to Calla. She realized that it really was more Emily playing Reid, but Calla was the one to move the pieces and cheer if she knocked one of Reid's out. Henry and Jack entertained themselves with Henry's toys, while Hotch, Rossi, and Will half watched the game, half talked about work; breaking the rule as Garcia reminded them. She was bored out of her mind trying to get either JJ – who was completely invested in the football game – or Emily – who was completely invested in the chess game – to talk to her. Eventually, Calla gave up trying to play and leaned herself back into her mother, letting her take the reins and just watch. Emily was ecstatic, and very determined to beat Reid.

"Calla, come help me get chocolate, you seem to be the mastermind." Garcia finally pouted nearly an hour later.

"It was not technically all my idea." Calla answered as she climbed off of her mother.

"Your partners were eight and four." Emily said, never taking her eyes of the board. Reid was a cheat and everyone knew it.

"Eight and four can be very persuasive. You don't know."

"A likely story." Garcia said linking her arm with Calla's. "Chocolate here we come!"

"Us too Aunt Pen?" Jack asked.

"Yes, you too!" Henry and Jack cheered and ran into the kitchen behind them.

"Garcia, don't let them eat it all!" JJ yelled from the couch.

"I won't." Garcia said with a mischievous grin.

* * *

><p>Hours later, Henry and Jack were both passed out. Will had already shuffled Henry upstairs – despite his many protests – and Jack was out cold in Hotch's lap. He bid everyone goodnight and carried the sleeping eight year old to the car. Winding down, the tv was set to some old black and white movie which no one was really paying any attention to. Calla was half asleep on Morgan, while everyone else was sprawled out and comfortable. It had been a wonderful vacation from the blood and horror they saw at work.<p>

"Alright guys, I think its time for us to head out too." Emily said as she watched Calla nod off onto Morgan's chest for the third time in the last twenty minutes.

"I'm not tired." Calla protested.

Everyone just grinned as she couldn't even open her eyes to say so. "Well, I am." Emily said as she stood up and hugged JJ and everyone goodbye. "Thanks for letting us come early." She whispered to JJ. "And I'm sorry my daughter is corrupting your son."

"I'm pretty sure its going both ways." JJ said with a smile. "And anytime."

"I should head out too." Rossi said standing up. Reid, Garcia and Morgan decided to call it a night as well.

"Want me to carry her to your car?" Morgan asked Emily.

"I am fifteen!" Calla whined – eyes still closed and not moving from her position. "I am perfectly capable of walking."

Morgan snorted. "Prove it."

"I thought I was." Calla moaned.

"You haven't moved girly." Morgan said as he tickled her ear a little.

"I hate you. You're too comfortable."

"I know right!" Garcia exclaimed.

"Start your car Em, I'll bring her out."

"Thanks Morgan."

"I can walk!" Calla yelled. Rossi, Reid and Garcia all hugged everyone goodbye – Garcia placed a kiss on Calla's forehead and then Morgan's before heading out. Morgan shifted his weight slightly and lifted Calla up into his arms. JJ moved over and held the door out for him, grinning at the pair of them. "G'night JJ." Calla mumbled.

"Goodnight Calla." JJ said kissing her cheek.

"What, no kiss for me?" Morgan asked with a grin.

"Nope. Get out of my house!"

Morgan smirked at her and walked down to Emily's waiting car. Very gently, he deposited the sleeping girl into the backseat and expertly strapped her in, sliding her coat on top of her. Emily glanced at him rather impressed.

"You have no idea how many drunk girls I have done that for."

"Morgan!" Emily whispered loudly. "Stay away from my child."

"Oh come on now Princess. I would never let that kid get into any trouble and you know it."

"Goodnight Morgan." Emily said with a smile.

"Night Princess."

Emily just shook her head and pulled out of JJ's driveway. All in all, this had turned out to be a good thanksgiving. Her mother was her mother, and she would probably never change, but Emily was realizing that because of Calla, she no longer cared. Her mother couldn't hurt her now, she had something fantastic in her life, and no way in hell would she screw it up. Calla had stood up to Elizabeth Prentiss, something not many grown men were willing to do. Emily turned of the car and gently lifted her daughter out and into the apartment. She was grateful that Calla was rather small for a fifteen year old, she liked getting the opportunity to carry her daughter to bed. Slowly, Emily pulled off Calla's jeans, and slipped her into an oversized t-shirt and tucked the covers up tight around her.

"Night sweetie." She whispered and went to turn off the light.

"Night Mom." Calla whispered back. Emily beamed.


	26. Chapter 26

**I'm not sure how much longer this fic is going to be. I'm slowly running out of ideas. I just wanted to give you guys a heads up so it doesn't come out of nowhere, I may either end this within a few chapters, or else the updates may be less consistent for a while. I apologize, but hope you still enjoy the rest:) Its short. Thanks again for sticking with me and your input, it means a lot. **

Emily seriously considered abandoning her paperwork to be a spectator to Reid tutoring Calla. Garcia had already crawled out of her lair, and Morgan was barely even pretending to do his work anymore. Groaning, she grabbed her things and went up to JJ's office.

"They're having fun and I can't work down there, can I work in here with you?" She whined.

JJ glanced up from her files and smiled. "Sure." She gestured to the empty chair. "Have a seat."

"This is beyond unfair."

"Its also very entertaining. I don't think I've ever seen Reid this excited about anything, and that is really saying something."

Emily chuckled to herself and stole another glance out the window. Reid and Calla were jumping up and down yelling as Garcia, Morgan and other agents cheered them on. There seemed to be some rules, or order to whatever game they were playing; all Emily knew is that it was educational and Calla was learning something. It was good enough for her, but very distracting for her work. Emily and JJ diligently poured over their files, wanting to get them done with as soon as possible. Emily's two days off had been fantastic. She and Calla had spent the first day in their pajamas, on the couch, watching movies and eating food that was most definitely bad for them. It had been heaven. Some point after lunch a pillow fight had erupted which lasted a good hour and had no clear declared winner. Both of them were exhausted by the end of it and promptly fell asleep.

The rest of their evening had been as uneventful and as glorious as their morning. Neither changed into actual clothes, they stayed on the couch, and then made possibly the best chocolate chip cookies in the history of the world before heading off to bed.

The next day Emily and Calla joined Danny and Julie and took the teenagers to the movies and out to lunch. Emily couldn't believe the difference in her life from a year ago to now. Last year she had been edgy, nervous, fearful for her life and her team, and had almost died. Now, she had her team back, her job back, Doyle was dead, and she had her daughter.

Finishing their paperwork, Emily and JJ headed down to hang out in the bullpen with everyone else. Emily grinned as Calla and Reid teamed up together against Morgan and Garcia. Emily and JJ opted to be judges despite Morgan's protests that they were biased. To calm him down, Calla ran up to Rossi's office and pulled him down as a judge, she gave Emily to Morgan's team and took JJ saying it was now fair.

"Fair? You got the genius. How's that fair?"

"You wanted to play against him in the first place!" Calla proclaimed. Emily laughed and slapped Morgan on the shoulders.

"Come on, we can beat them." She said.

"Yeah right, you'll work real hard to beat your own kid."

"Mom, do not let us win!" Calla yelled.

Emily and the rest of the team all smiled at the use of the word 'mom'. Calla had taken to saying it more often than not since thanksgiving and it still made her smile every time she heard it. "No mercy kid." She said back to her with a grin. "Come on Morgan, Garcia knows a lot of nerdy techie stuff, we got this."

They played Reid's game for an hour before Hotch came down with a grim look and told everyone they had a case. He apologized profusely, but it was urgent. Calla plopped herself down at Emily's desk and pulled out a book and her cell phone; calling Danny and asking if she could stay with them for the rest of their vacation. Emily followed the rest of her team up to the conference room after placing a kiss on top of Calla's head and telling her to behave while she was gone.

"Don't worry, I'll smoke some weed, drink some beer and have a wild orgy." Calla said sarcastically.

"I carry a gun." Emily reminded her with a grin.

"Right, well then I will find some other plans."

Emily snorted, gave Calla a light smack and headed up to the debriefing.


	27. Chapter 27

**Or I could be totally lying to you all and thought up this chapter as soon as I was finished posting the other one...I'm still not 100% how I want to end this, but I think it will be kinda soon, my guess is updates are going to be less consistent, but clearly my muse just likes to fuck with me, so who knows. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I had a lot of fun writing it and may have gotten a little carried away...:)**

Emily was hit.

_Shit. _She thought as she dropped to the ground. _That fucking hurt! _

"Prentiss!" Morgan yelled as he ran over to her, Reid hot on his heels. They both ducked down next to her and tried to hide themselves from view. "We're dying out here." Morgan proclaimed as Emily groaned and rubbed her shoulder. "And you're bleeding!"

"War strategy states that if we..."

"Reid, really? War strategy?" Emily groaned.

"Well, I don't know!" Reid yelled in frustration. No one had time to say anything else as they were hit all over again. Ducking behind the tree the three agents were currently hiding behind; they pressed themselves together to hide as much of their bodies as was possible. "This is no longer fun!" Reid whined.

"Come out and fight you cowards!" A gleeful voice yelled at them.

Emily practically growled. She was bleeding – barely – but her pride was hurt more than anything else. They were three federal agents for fucks sake! They were not about to lose, not a chance in hell. Emily glanced at Morgan and Reid, a new look of determination on her face. Silently, the two men nodded at her, years of practice out in the field had perfected wordless communication between them. Crouching into position, the three of them prepared their shots, took deep breaths, and they lunged their attack.

"Ahhhh!" Screams pelted the air as their two intended targets retreated back in terror.

"Mom!" A very shocked Calla screamed. "You hit me!"

"Payback my dear, your snowball had ice in it! Look at my shoulder, you drew blood!"

Calla tentatively stuck her head out from around the snow fort she and Danny had constructed while the agents had been inside at work. It was impressive, and part of the reason why the three agents were losing. "Sorry." She said sincerely. "I didn't know."

"Its okay. But no more ice." Emily said warningly. Calla nodded, then got a mischievous twinkle in her eye. Emily knew that look._ Shit_. She thought as she dove back behind the tree, pulling Reid with her. Danny bolted out from his hiding position and pelted Morgan expertly with what felt like a million snowballs, one after the other. Morgan scrambled to get out of the way. When the two teenagers had surprise attacked them in a snowball fight to the death earlier that afternoon; Morgan had to admit, he pegged the teenage boy with the high pitched voice, talking about Patti LuPone's next endeavor as no competition at all. Holy shit had he been wrong. Danny was crazy athletic, and had an arm that rivaled Morgan's own.

"This is embarrassing." Morgan groaned as he slammed down in defeat next to Emily and Reid.

"Very much so. Lets go inside." Reid stated.

"And quit! Admit defeat to two cocky teenagers? Not a chance!" Morgan yelled back at him.

"Morgan's right Reid. We have to have some pride, I am not about to lose to my daughter."

"What exactly do you propose we do? They spent the entire time we were inside working building a very impressive fort that offers protection and a million snowballs. We have to make them as we go! We'll never have enough, we came into this wildly unprepared."

Indeed the two teenagers had planned this from the start. They had the day off of school for some sort of teacher conference meetings before christmas break. Julie had to go to a jewelry show for the day, so Calla and Danny had tagged along to work with Emily. The best ever snow for snowballs had fallen the night before, and Calla and Danny refused to be cooped up down in Garcia's lair. Deciding it would be awesome to beat federal agents, the two had constructed a plan. Knowing that their opponents had federal training and they had nothing, they realized the only way to win would be the element of surprise and fighting dirty. Sometime around 10am they had snuck outside, telling only Garcia of their plan and began working on a snow fort. There were only a couple of trees outside the bureau, so they would have the advantage there. They also got to work making as many snowballs as they possibly could. Many agents had come and gone seeing them and each time they had smiled innocently and pretended to be doing nothing. By the time lunch had rolled around, they were satisfied with their work and gone back inside. Drying off in Garcia's office, they entered phase two of their plan.

The team had just gotten back from a case in Miami the day before and were off rotation for the next three days. The profilers were finishing up paperwork on their latest case and then they were free for the day. While it had been a long and difficult case to actually work, the paperwork for it was actually going by rather quickly. Emily, Morgan and Reid were all done about an hour after lunch and Calla and Danny dragged them outside under the pretense of showing them a snowman intended to look like Hotch. As the three agents walked outside – only partly bundled up – the two teenagers attacked with glee. Reid began yelping and tried to run out of the way only to slip. "Morgan!" He squeaked out in distress. Morgan grabbed him and hauled him out of the way, following Emily's lead to duck behind tree.

"They planned this." He said through gritted teeth.

"Apparently." Emily turned and noticed Garcia grinning at them from the bureau entrance. She was holding hats, gloves and scarfs out to them. "Garcia was in on it." Emily said angrily.

"What!" Morgan whipped around and saw her. "Baby Girl! You will pay for this!" He yelled out. Garcia just laughed as Danny pelted him in the back. "We need those clothes or we will die. They've got snow pants on, they'll be fine for hours."

"Maybe we can call a time out?" Reid asked.

"Rule number one!" Calla screamed out. "No time outs." The three agents groaned. "Rule number two, other than rule number one, there are no rules! And you're going down!"

"And rule number three, winners get to make losers do whatever they want, no matter how embarrassing!" Danny added.

"We cannot lose." Morgan said quickly. "That kid of yours has a sadistic streak, mix it with Garcia and we will have to do something horrible." Emily and Reid nodded in agreement. Losing was not an option.

"We need those clothes!" Reid reminded them.

"Okay, here's what we do, Prentiss and I will distract them, Reid you run like hell and get that stuff and get it back here."

"That's a horrible plan" Reid told him.

"Well, its what we got, go!" Morgan said shoving Reid forward. "Ready Prentiss?" Emily nodded and the two of them began making snowballs with their bare hands. Reid sprinted – very comically – to the front of the bureau and gathered up everything he could get his hands on. Running back, he was hit twice and almost dropped everything, but one glare from Emily and he held on. The three agents bundled up and with newfound determination they began making snowballs as fast as they could.

Unbeknownst to them, Garcia had been filming the entire fight from beginning to end. This was not something they would want to forget, no matter who the winner turned out to be. She had to admit, her alliance totally lied with the kids, but she had her doubts. From JJ's office, she had a perfect view of the entire battle field. Lucky for her, JJ was in Hotch's office with Rossi, going over some last minute details before Jack was due to arrive from his babysitters.

Hearing footsteps behind her, Garcia was greeted with a, "what the hell are you doing?" as JJ walked back into her office.

"Blackmail." Garcia answered with a grin.

"What?" JJ moved over to the window to look down. Gathering what was going on, she saw Calla pelt Reid with a snowball, as he fell, the teenager did a victory dance, only to squeal as Emily threw one back at her. JJ burst out into laughter. "I was wondering where the hell they all disappeared to."

"You guys done?" Garcia asked, never taking her eyes of the camera.

"Yeah. Jack just got here."

"Want to go get a better view?"

"Definitely." JJ said with a grin.

JJ and Garcia walked down with Rossi, Hotch and Jack, not bothering to inform the boys of what was going on outside. As soon as they stepped outside, Garcia resumed her filming with glee as Jack's face lit up.

"Jack!" Calla yelled as she noticed him. "Come be on our team!"

With possibly the most hopeful, excited look ever Jack glanced up at his father. "Can I Daddy?"

Hotch couldn't very well say no to that, he nodded and shoved Jack's hat further down on his head. The boy had on very thick gloves and luckily snow pants. Hotch watched as Calla and Danny chucked snowball after snowball so Jack could run to their fort safely.

"What!" Morgan yelled. "You can't add team members"

"Rule number two Morgan. There are no rules besides one!" Calla yelled out as she high fived Jack.

"Then we call Hotch and Rossi!" Morgan yelled back.

"No thank you. I'll help Garcia make the film or something." Rossi said plopping down on the bench next to Garcia. He was much too old for this nonsense, but he was not above letting it entertain him. Hotch, contemplated sitting down as well, but he was not one to pass up an opportunity to play with Jack when it presented itself. Not to mention, it was embarrassing how poorly his team was losing, their pride was at stake here. Hotch zipped his jacket up tighter and pulled on his gloves, then ran over to his team.

"You people are pathetic." Was the first thing he said.

"Hotch, that kid has got one hell of an arm, its scary. And Calla is Prentiss' kid, she's vicious man." Morgan argued.

"You are professionally trained federal agents." Hotch stated as he began making snowballs.

"Wait!" Calla yelled. "What about JJ?"

"We want her!" Jack yelled out.

"Wait, no." Danny said as they three kids ducked their heads together. "I thought we wanted to beat the adults. JJ is one of them."

"True, but she is the best shot, we might need her now that they've got Hotch. And five against three is a lot worse. We could lose." Calla answered him.

"JJ is one of us! No way do you get her!" Morgan yelled. JJ just grinned from the sidelines, she didn't honestly care what team she was on, this was highly entertaining either way.

"What do we want?" Calla asked her team members. "Yes JJ or no?"

"We might lose without her. But if we beat them all, it would be the coolest thing ever." Danny stated.

"Jack?" Calla asked.

"No JJ, we can beat them!"

Acting as spokesperson for her team, Calla stood up bravely and called out, "you get JJ" before ducking Morgan's snowball.

JJ pulled on her hat and ran over to join her team. "Why do they have an actual fort and we just have tiny trees to hide behind?" She asked.

"Because they fight dirty and this whole thing was a sneak attack." Reid answered her angrily. "I am so giving Calla a test tomorrow."

JJ just grinned and began making snowballs. She was a fantastic shot, gun or snowball, these kids were going down.

"They can't hide behind their fort forever, we've got to draw them out." Hotch stated, taking over as the team leader. "Taking a hostage would also be a sure fire way to win."

"Jack?" Morgan asked.

"Whoever we can grab."

"Calla." Emily growled. "She is the mastermind. Evil, little mastermind."

"Okay, Calla." Hotch agreed. He couldn't help but smile at the look on Emily's face – on his entire team's faces – this was a wonderful break from the horrors of their latest case. It had hit them all hard, the ones involving kids always did, but this level of torture had been particularly hard to stomach. One of the victims had looked very much like Calla, and Emily had had a mini breakdown for a moment. Hotch had told her to take half an hour, call Calla, there was no shame in that. He took the opportunity to call Jack as well, and saw JJ doing the very same thing.

* * *

><p>When Emily had gotten home the night before, she had been almost in tears. Twelve children were dead, and they had failed to save the girl that had been taken while they were searching for the unsub. They had gotten him, but the girl had died maybe an hour before they had gotten there. She looked so much like Calla, so small and innocent and broken. Emily had almost thrown up right then and there. Walking into her apartment, she thanked Margie, dropped her go-bag and headed straight for Calla's bedroom, needing to see that her child was okay. Seeing her curled up sound asleep had almost caused her to break down again – this time in relief. Needing to touch her, Emily climbed into the bed and wrapped her arms around her daughter, breathing in her shampoo. She was okay, no one had hurt her, her daughter was fine.<p>

"Mom?" The girl mumbled sleepily.

"Hey sweetie, sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

Calla rolled herself around, still wrapped up in her mother's tight grip. Seeing tears in Emily's eyes Calla grew worried and hugged her back tightly. "Are you okay?" She whispered into Emily's chest.

"Yeah honey, it was...it was a hard case."

"Did you get him?"

"Yeah. We got him."

"Good." Calla wasn't sure what it was that had shaken her mother up so badly. She had called her more than she normally did when away on a case, and while Calla was no profiler, she was very good at reading people and she noticed the distress in her mother's voice. She also knew that Emily wouldn't discuss cases with her, so she didn't bother asking. Calla just cheerfully talked about her latest dance class, how she had nailed a triple pirouette on her left leg, something she had been struggling to get for a while. It had worked, Emily sounded much calmer when she hung up than she had when she first called.

Calla let her mother hold her for as long as she wanted, knowing that for some reason, she needed it. Before they knew it, both mother and daughter had fallen asleep.

* * *

><p>"Okay, Jack, you start making more snowballs, we're starting to get low and that's kind of our only advantage now." Calla ordered him.<p>

"Nah, we've got the fort, they've just got those stupid trees and now there are six of them. They can't hide as well." Danny reminded her.

"True, but if we run out of snowballs we're screwed."

Jack busily got to work, ecstatic to have two fifteen year olds as friends. This was way more fun than just playing with his dad.

Rossi leaned into Garcia, "who do you think will win?" he asked.

"My sole allegiance is to the kiddies. But they are highly outnumbered."

"How much longer do you think they'll last?"

"No much, they've already been at it almost an hour. They're getting cold."

"I'm gonna go by hot chocolate for everyone. Call me if they're done before I get back."

"Will do!"

"Okay, Morgan, Prentiss, you two head out first, hit high and hard, Reid and I will cover JJ, JJ you have to take down Danny, he's their best shot. Anyone who gets an opportunity to grab Calla, do so, any questions?" The team all shook their heads and got into position. "Go." Hotch barked out. Emily and Morgan sprinted, arms full of snowballs and began flinging them. Grinning as they were met with squeals, they pressed on. Danny and Calla returned fire back, while Jack made snowball after snowball and handed them to the two teenagers hastily. They were doing well, until Hotch and Reid headed forward as well, JJ crouched between them with an evil gleam in her eye.

"We're gonna die." Calla said as soon as she saw JJ. "We should have made her be on our team!"

"Too late for that! Come on Pierce!" Danny yelled. "Man up!"

"I am a girl thank you very much."

"Than woman up! But just help me!"

"I am!"

"They're arguing." Emily said quickly. "Now or never." JJ bent down and flung her snowball with perfect precision. It landed directly onto Danny's left shoulder with exceptional force and sent him down to the ground with an 'oomph'.

"Go, go, go!" Hotch yelled.

Jack scrambled to help Danny get up and threw a few measly snowballs himself. Calla took lead and chucked as many as she could while Danny was getting up. Unfortunately for her, she had to stick to the left side of their fort, she was stuck. Throwing as many as she could, from the worst view point, she as getting pelted left and right from Hotch, JJ and Reid. She could barley see a thing. Jack and Danny got up and went to help her, but in the confusion, Morgan and Emily had gotten dangerously close to their fort. Morgan held his ground, helping Hotch, JJ and Reid, while Emily snuck forward unnoticed.

"You'll pay for that Agent Jareau!" Danny yelled out as he flung a few perfect shots back at her. JJ grinned, a worthy opponent.

Calla was too busy cheering as Danny got JJ in the chest to notice that her mother was right beside her. Next thing she knew, hands reached forward and she was snatched violently out of the snow fort. Calla let out a terrified scream as she felt herself lifted off of the ground and dragged away.

"Fall back!" Hotch yelled, seeing Emily had gotten their target. Jack and Danny watched in horror as Calla was dragged across the battlefield and into the enemy's territory. They dropped down, hidden from sight and groaned.

"Now what?" Jack asked Danny. "They'll kill her!"

"She'll never talk." Danny stated firmly. "We'll just have to do a rescue mission."

"How?"

"I'm working on it." Danny said thoughtfully. "Make as many snowballs as you can."

Calla squirmed in her mother's arms as much as she could, but with six federal agents literally surrounding her, she knew it was futile.

"Okay girly, you guys are finished." Morgan said with a grin as they hid themselves behind their designated tree.

"I'll never help you!" Calla yelled.

"Oh yes you will." Emily said holding tight to Calla's arm.

Calla fearfully looked from one adult to the other. Emily and Morgan had evil grins plastered over their faces, Reid just looked tired, but satisfied, and JJ and Hotch were just getting into the swing of things. Calla was doomed.

"How can we knock down the snow fort?" Hotch asked. "Where's the weakest link?"

"I'm not talking." Calla stated determinedly. Emily exchanged a look with Hotch and JJ, then turned back to Calla with an evil grin. The teenager screamed and tried to run. Emily held on tight while JJ handed her over some snow. Squealing, Calla tried her damnedest to wriggle away, but next thing she knew, there was snow down her pants. "MOM!" Calla yelped.

"Where's the weakest part?" Emily asked.

"I'm not talking." Calla moaned. Emily reached down and rubbed the snow in as Calla whimpered against the cold. "I'm not telling you." She said through gritted teeth.

"We should've grabbed Jack. She's too tough." Reid said.

"No." Emily grinned. "She'll break."

"No I won't!" Calla tried to sound brave, but the faces of six federal agents – one of them her mother – looming down on her, with freezing snow in her pants made it difficult. She was definitely going to die.

"Calla!" Danny yelled. "We've got a plan! Stay strong!"

Calla grinned at the adults. "I'm not talking."

"They've got a stash of snowballs somewhere." Reid said. "If we find them, we can win, we've got more people, and a hostage."

All eyes turned to Calla. "I will _never_ tell." She stated.

"Emily, JJ, get her to talk. Morgan, Reid, lets hit them hard while we can." The men headed out to attack the boys as the two women loomed over the shivering girl.

"She's your kid Em, how do you want to play this?"

"I'll hold, you tickle."

At the mention of tickle, Calla's eyes widened in horror. She was extremely ticklish. Her only hope was that Emily didn't know all of the places she was ticklish yet and that Danny and Jack could somehow take down the men before she broke. Her hopes were quickly diminishing. Emily held tight to Calla's arms and bent them behind the girls back so she couldn't move. Whimpering at the look in JJ's eyes Calla knew she had to act fast.

"JJ, I love you." She began.

"I love you too Calla, and I'm gonna tickle you 'till you break."

"Mom!" Calla yelled. "You can't really let this happen." Calla begged.

"Oh yes I can. You'll live."

"You two are mothers! Isn't this against the law or something? Stop!" Calla yelled as JJ lunged. "Emily!" Calla screamed as JJ lifted Calla's jacket and tickled her stomach. The cold, mixed with JJ's expert hands tickling with fervor was almost too much.

"Calla, we're coming!" Jack yelled. "Be strong!"

Whimpering Calla gritted her teeth and tried to do just that. JJ and Emily noticed the determination and decided to change tactics. JJ looked to Emily in question and the brunette nodded. Her daughter had been out in the cold for hours, bundled up or not, she wouldn't last much longer. Emily was not about to lose, and her daughter was tough – secretly Emily was very proud – but she was not gonna give her the satisfaction of winning. JJ picked up a handful of snow and grinned at Calla's bare stomach. Realizing her intention, Calla screamed. "I'm gonna die! Danny! Jack! Do something!"

"We're trying!" Danny yelled back as he got hit once again. Jack was a brave and worthy partner, but the kid was eight and they were outnumbered and faltering fast. Morgan grinned as he pelted Danny in the shoulder and high fived Reid as he managed to hit Jack in the leg.

"Daddy! Let us win!" Jack yelled.

"No way!" Hotch yelled back at his son with a smile.

Rossi returned, his arms full of cartons of hot chocolate. "Still not over?" He asked Garcia.

"It will be soon. They took Calla hostage and from the looks of it, JJ and Emily are gonna break her any second. Danny and Jack are holding strong, but they're going down fast, the men have almost made it to their fort. Once that collapses the kids are doomed."

Rossi chuckled and sipped his coffee. He didn't actually enjoy hot chocolate that much.

"JJ don't." Calla whimpered in a feeble protest.

"Talk and I won't. Where is the stash?"

"Mommy?" Calla tried.

"Oh don't pull mommy crap, where is it?" Emily said placing a kiss on Calla's very red cheek.

"You can't be nice and torture me at the same time, its not fair."

"This is war, and if I remember correctly, other than no time outs, there are no rules."

Calla huffed. JJ was dangerously close to smushing snow into Calla's bare stomach. "Fine. They're over by the tree near the front of the bureau."

Emily and JJ grinned. Emily hauled Calla up and used the teenager as a shield, while she and JJ ran over to the stash of snowballs. Taking in the sight of the ongoing war, they could see that their team was gaining the upper hand. With the extra snowballs, and a hostage, they could definitely win. Crouching down Emily and JJ looked everywhere but didn't see a single snowball. Next thing they knew, they were pelted.

"You tricked us!" Emily yelled as she tried to take cover and hold Calla in place at the same time.

"You tried to torture me! Of course I tricked you!" Calla wriggled herself out of Emily's distracted grasp, only to be caught by JJ. "Danny!" She screamed. "Hurry!"

Danny was working his hardest to stave off the men while Jack snuck over and tried to rescue Calla. Emily grinned at him manically and he screamed. "Hi Jack. You coming to be on our team?" She asked sweetly.

"No, I'm rescuing Calla." He whispered nervously. JJ had Calla in a vice like grip and Emily looked ready to lunge.

"Jack run!" Calla screamed. He turned and yelped as Emily bolted at him. As hard as he tried, Emily was faster and next thing he knew, she had lifted him up into the air and tickled him. "Jack!" Calla yelled again as JJ tickled her as well.

Danny looked on fearfully as both of his team members were being held hostage by the two women. Turning back to the men, Morgan gave him a devilish grin. "Give up kid?" He asked happily.

"Don't give up Danny!" Calla yelled.

"Yeah Danny! You can do it!" Jack added as he was brought over next to JJ and Calla.

Danny moaned slightly as Morgan and Hotch advanced slowly. Reid, tired and cold gave up and went over to help Emily and JJ with the hostages. Morgan and Hotch could handle it.

"Kid, I like you, but I am gonna pulverize you." Morgan said with a smirk.

Danny ducked down, armed himself with as many snowballs as he possibly could and gulped. He would go down, but he would do down swinging.

It was over quickly, Danny put up a good fight, but within minutes, Hotch had knocked down the fort and Morgan burst through, tackling Danny – gently – to the ground.

"And the winners are...drum roll please Rossi?" Garcia asked. Rossi complied by stamping his feet against the ground feebly. "The BAU!" Garcia screamed. "Come get hot chocolate!"

The adults cheered like children while the actual children groaned. Each of them were still in the grips of the adults. JJ still had a hold of Calla, Jack was in Emily's arms, and she carried him over to Garcia happily. Danny was still under Morgan's hold. Morgan climbed up and held a hand out to the teenage boy.

"Kid. You are freaking fantastic. Good fight." He said sincerely.

Danny beamed and allowed Morgan to haul him up out of the snow. "Thanks." He said sheepishly. Morgan clapped an arm around his back and pulled him along as they went to get the warm beverage. Hotch grinned at the sight of Emily tickling the breath out of Jack and accepted his drink from Rossi. Reid had already downed his and had taken the coffee Rossi had bought for him as well. The scrawny agent was freezing, but had actually enjoyed himself. JJ had yet to release Calla, she had one arm around her tightly, securing the teen in place, half on her lap and half on the bench, the other hand was downing the hot chocolate happily.

"I can't believe you were gonna rub snow on my stomach." Calla said with a pout.

JJ grinned and placed a kiss on Calla's cheek. "I would have been very gentle about it."

"You're a horrible human being."

JJ just laughed and with one last tickle, released Calla. The teenager went over to sit next to her friend as they whispered together; probably planning some sort of revenge.

"You will be all happy to know, I have the entire thing on tape and will be making multiple copies, with music and everything." Garcia called out.

"Oh good, we we're worried for a minute." Hotch said seriously. Everyone looked at him and then he smiled, causing everyone to break out into laughter.


	28. Chapter 28

**Glad you guys liked the snowball fight, that was a lot of fun to write:) Hope you enjoy. **

Emily heard the shrieks of laughter coming from upstairs for the fifth time. Shaking her heard she shared a smile with Morgan. They had been waiting on Calla and Danny for almost twenty minutes now. Reid and Garcia were sitting on the couch, discussing different ballet techniques that Reid had been researching.

"Guys!" Emily yelled upstairs. "If you don't hurry up, we're going to be late!"

Calla and Danny had insisted on dressing up and had been upstairs since 9am, it was now almost 6pm, Emily was a little worried as to what exactly they had been doing for hours and hours. Emily had wanted to take Calla to a real ballet since the day she met her and found out she had never been. Danny hadn't either, and the perfect opportunity had cropped up with the annual production of The Nutcracker. Emily had asked the team if any of them wanted to join the trio. Morgan and Reid were game once they saw the looks on Danny and Calla's hopeful faces, Garcia as well. Hotch said thank you but no, and was off to have a night in with Jack. JJ and Will were taking Henry down to New Orleans to do an early Christmas with Will's mother; and Rossi told the two teenagers that while he would be glad to suffer through a ballet if they were in it, he was not about to go to one otherwise.

"We'll be right down!" Calla yelled back.

"Sooner rather than later Cal." Emily hollered back up as she poured out the rest of her now cold coffee. Finally, they heard footsteps descending the stairs.

"Ohhh!" Garcia squealed. "You two look adorable! Let me take pictures!"

Emily glanced up and smiled. Calla looked stunning. She was wearing a deep red dress that made her look incredibly grown up and childlike at the same time. Danny had done her make up expertly – he practiced on everyone he could force to sit down for any length of time – and he somehow got her hair to cascade down in perfect curls without her usual frizz. Danny himself looked extremely handsome, in a jet black tuxedo, with a red tie matching Calla's dress. They beamed and posed as Garcia snapped photo after photo.

"Okay, as great as you guys look, we are gonna lose our dinner reservations if we don't leave right now." Emily told them.

"Should we be more dressed up?" Reid asked as he came over to the group.

"No Reid, your fine."

"I do have extra clothes upstairs!" Danny said excitedly.

"Naw, I dress up neither of you will have any chance with the ladies." Morgan said to Danny and Reid with a grin.

"I like boys." Danny answered him.

"I know." Morgan grinned at him and clapped an arm around his back. "More ladies for me." The two of them headed out, Reid and Garcia on their heels. Calla smiled as Emily helped her into her jacket.

"Danny likes him." She said.

"Morgan? Oh Calla, he's..."

Calla cut her off. "No Mom, not like that. Although he did say Morgan is the hottest guy he's ever seen, but I mean just as a guy. His dad's a jerk, he won't talk to him cause Danny's gay. Its really cool that Morgan doesn't care. Cause he's a 'guys' guy or whatever, and Danny said, I dunno, he just likes Morgan."

"Well good. Morgan likes him too." Emily took Calla's hand and led her out to the car.

The six of them had a wonderful dinner. Calla and Danny got a few odd looks at how dressed up they were, but neither teenager seemed to notice or care. They ate a lot, and quickly, not on purpose, but because everyone was hungry from the long wait. Calla and Danny grew more and more excited as they drove to the theater, they were whispering and giggling with Garcia and Reid in the backseat of Emily's car. She and Morgan shared an amused look, as much as they were looking forward to the show, their friends enthusiasm was much more entertaining.

The second Emily pulled the car to a stop, Calla and Danny had bolted out the door. Emily hadn't even turned the car off yet.

"Freeze you two!" She yelled. "You're gonna run and slip on some ice and then we will have to take a trip to the emergency room and you'll miss the show." Calla and Danny instantly stopped moving. They waited impatiently as the four adults got out of the car and made their way over to them. Calla jumped up and down to keep warm, and Emily was happy that the girl couldn't walk in heels, she would break something in a second. The moment the adults met the teenagers, they began to speed walk through the parking lot. As predicted, Calla slipped within seconds and Emily reached out to catch her. "Seriously?" She asked with a smile.

"Sorry." Calla mumbled. Emily just grinned and took Calla's hand to be sure the girl didn't fall or try to run again.

As they entered the lobby Emily beamed at the expressions on the kids faces. Walking over to the ushers and getting their programs, Emily handed over their tickets. Calla and Danny began talking a mile a minute as soon as they followed the usher into the theater. Excitedly pointing out everything they saw to each other.

"Gezz, they gonna be like this all night?" Morgan whispered with a laugh.

"Most likely it will get worse." Emily answered him.

"Oh fun." He said sarcastically. Emily just hit him lightly and settled down into her seat. Wanting to get everything perfect and since it was part of Calla's Christmas present, Emily had gotten front center seats. When the two kids realized how close they were, the giggling and whispering only escalated. They sat down and began pouring through their programs, heads down, ignoring everyone else.

"This is going to be cool." Reid said to Emily. "I've been researching the origin of The Nutcracker, and I found out that..." Emily began tuning him out; watching Calla and Danny with a gleam in her eye. It was nice to see them this happy. Even better to know that she had caused it. As the lights flickered, signaling for everyone to take their seats, Calla and Danny griped each others hands in excitement. The lights dimmed and Calla leaned into Emily, taking her free hand and wrapping it in the brunette's.

"Mom, thank you for this." She whispered as the orchestra began playing the overture.

"You are very welcome." Emily whispered back with a smile and a squeeze to Calla's hand. Grinning, Calla faced forward again and never let go of Emily's hand.

* * *

><p>"The Sugar Plum Fairy is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my entire life!" Danny exclaimed as they sat eating cookies and coffee in the lobby.<p>

"I know!" Calla answered excitedly. "God, that part would be so amazing. I mean, Clara would be such an awesome role, but I'm too old."

"The girl playing her is fourteen, Gumdrop." Garcia said with a smile.

"Yeah but she's tiny."

Garcia snorted. "So are you."

They had been talking during the entire intermission. Even Reid and Morgan had been actually enjoying the show. It got a little slow and boring at parts, but Morgan was manly enough to admit, this people could dance.

"The woman playing the Sugar Plum Fairy was in Chicago, Aida, Wicked, Anything Goes and Gypsy!" Calla said as she read off the program. "God, that's amazing."

"I would love to play Billy Flynn in Chicago." Danny said staring off at a cute boy behind the coffee counter.

Morgan watched his gaze and smiled, leaning into Danny and whispering, "way too old for you kid."

Caught in the act, Danny pretend he had no idea what Morgan was talking about. Thankfully, he was saved as the lights flickered telling them to get back to their seats. Calla took her mother's hand again and practically skipped with her back down to the front. "This is so amazing!" She stated.

"I'm glad you're having a good time." Emily said as she swatted her behind into the aisle.

"A good time! I'm having the single greatest night of my entire existence!"

"Don't you think that's a bit of a hyperbole?" Danny asked.

"Hyperbole?" Calla asked, frowning at him as she sat down.

"SAT word." Danny explained.

"We're freshmen."

"Never too late."

Calla looked at her mother in a panic. Emily smiled and rubbed her arm reassuringly. "Relax, you're a freshman."

"We can do SAT flash card for words if you want Calla." Reid said sticking his head around Garcia.

"Great." Calla mumbled. "More homework."

"We'll make it a competition, see how easily we can beat Morgan!"

"What! Hey kid, leave me out of this."

"What? You said you would help if..."

Garcia slapped them both to quiet them as the lights dimmed.

* * *

><p>Calla and Danny had been retelling the entire story, discussing their favorite characters, dance moves, costumes, and actors the whole car ride home. Morgan was getting a headache. Emily dropped Morgan and Garcia off first, their houses near each other. Reid was stuck in between Calla and Danny and did his best to join into the conversation while Emily just listened and tried not to laugh. After he was home, Calla and Danny only upped the volume. Rather than tell them to chill out, Emily just let them be excited. As they pulled into Danny's driveway, Julie stepped outside and gave Emily a wave of thanks. Calla and Danny embraced and promised to call each other the second they woke up. Danny ran towards his mother, already telling her all about his night as Emily pulled out with a wave.<p>

Beaming, Calla climbed into the passenger seat and sighed. "Tonight was perfect Mom."

"I think so too."

Surprisingly, Calla spent the rest of their drive home in silence. For a second Emily thought the girl had fallen asleep. Tired, the two of them walked into Emily's apartment and shucked their coats. As Emily was hanging them up, arms wrapped themselves tightly around her back. Smiling, Emily turned her head awkwardly to look down and see Calla pressed against her back, grinning up at her.

"I love you Mom." She whispered.

Emily froze. It was the first time Calla had said that to her. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes and she twisted her body around to face Calla. Hugging her back tightly, she kissed her daughter's head.

"I love you too Calla. So much."

"I know." Calla said with a grin.

Emily laughed and unattached Calla from herself. "Alright kid, it is late, like very late, off to bed with you!"

"Mom!" Calla protested. Emily pointed upstairs without a word. Calla shook her head, but complied. "Ughh, fine!" Emily followed Calla as she tiredly climbed up stairs. "Can you unzip me?" She asked as they reached the top.

"Sure. Pjs, brush your teeth, wash your face and straight into bed kiddo."

"I'm not five Mom."

"Really? I thought you were."

"You're hilarious." Calla said as she went into her bedroom. Emily went into her own, changed into some warm sweats and an old Yale t-shirt. After brushing her teeth and washing her own face, Emily went to make sure Calla had actually gone to bed. Knocking softly, she entered Calla's bedroom. She laughed at the sight of Calla, still in her dress, flopped down on top of the covers, out cold. Emily just sighed, she walked over and gently, yanked the dress over Calla's head and pulled on an oversized t-shirt instead. Calla shifted and moaned in protest.

"Teeth and face now young lady." Emily whispered as she dragged the half asleep girl into her bathroom. Watching the teenager struggle to stay awake while brushing her teeth was a great source of entertainment, but it was taking much too long. Emily got a washcloth and went to town getting make up off of Calla's face despite her protests. "Bed." She said pointing. Calla shuffled off and dropped herself down in the exact position Emily had found her minutes before. "Preferably in the bed, it is winter." Calla only mumbled, her face in the covers. Emily reached over and shoved her legs inside the covers, pulling them up to the girl's chin, and placing a kiss on her forehead. "Night sweetie."

"Night Mom." Calla mumbled back.


	29. Chapter 29

Emily looked up as she heard Hotch yank open his door and angrily stomp down over to the break room. Curiously, she set down her pen gave Reid a look and headed after him. He was about to break the coffee machine.

"Hotch, you break that and we're all screwed." Emily said with a gentle laugh, hoping to calm him down slightly. It paid off. He sighed and set the the coffee pot down in defeat. Emily smiled at him and moved in to fix the coffee while he sat down. "Want to talk about it?" She asked, knowing the answer would most likely be no.

"Not really." Hotch said. _Of course._ Emily thought.

"You want to tell me anyway?" Emily said with a smile, setting his coffee down and taking a seat.

"Do you remember I mentioned Jack had been getting bullied a little?" Hotch asked. Emily nodded, waiting for him to go on. "I thought it had stopped. He invited the boy over and they had fun, but apparently, the boy's older brother has made things worse. He threw snow at his face in front of all the kids at recess and cut Jack's cheek."

"God, kids can be awful." Emily said through gritted teeth. Hotch nodded and looked up as JJ walked over in her coat.

"Ready?" She asked with a smile, which faltered as soon as she caught the look on her friends faces. "What's wrong?" She asked. JJ and Hotch often went to pick up Henry and Jack together, Henry's preschool was located in part of Jack's school. Hotch just shook his head and sighed.

"I'll get my coat, be right back."

JJ looked to Emily in question. "Jack's still getting bullied."

"Kids are such assholes." JJ spat out. Emily laughed at JJ, but agreed with her. "You heading out too?" JJ asked.

"Yeah."

"Text Calla, tell her to walk over to Jack's school, we'll get them all together."

"Good idea." Emily went to grab her coat and text her daughter. Calla's school was only a few blocks away from Jack's, by the time they drove over there from the bureau, she would be there already. Calla got out earlier than Jack and Henry.

* * *

><p>"Danny, my mom wants me to go over to Jack's school, I guess they're picking me up there."<p>

"Why? Do they have a case or something?"

"I dunno, she didn't say. Want to walk with me? We can grab coffee at that place on the way."

"Yeah sure."

Calla and Danny donned their coats, hats, scarves and gloves and headed out into the snow. They had been given a particularly difficult math test for their last day and were comparing answers as best they could remember.

"Its just so unfair to do that right before Christmas vacation." Calla groaned. She had studied with Reid for hours the last three days, but she still felt like she bombed it. "And to give us an essay to write over break! I mean its called 'break' for a reason."

"I think teachers live to make our lives hell. Its part of their job description or something."

Calla laughed. "Yeah probably." The two teenagers entered their favorite coffee place and got two to go. Handing over their cash, they took their coffees outside and headed over to PS. 24. "Do you want to hang out over break? Do something other than just watch movies and talk?"

"Sure! Like what though?"

Calla shrugged. "I heard there's a party on New Years. Greyson Young's house I think."

"The senior Greyson Young? Calla, we are lowly freshman, no one talks to us, there's no way we were invited."

"So what? The whole school will be there, we'll just blend in." Danny looked at her skeptically. "Danny, we are losers, we never do anything interesting, we hang out with our families all the time, we're teenagers! We're supposed to rebel, go to parties, get in trouble, whatever. Come on! It'll be fun."

"Fine." Danny groaned. "But I'm not drinking."

"You don't have to. No one says you have to drink to have fun." Calla and Danny had made it to Jack's school as the elementary kids were getting out. Most of them were waiting out in the front courtyard for their parents to pick them up. Calla scoped around looking for Jack. "Do you see him?" She asked.

"Over there." Danny pointed. Calla looked to where Danny had indicated. Jack was sitting alone on the steps, looking upset. Calla could see a big cut on his face from over there. She pursed her lips together curiously. The two teenagers watched as some older boys walked up to Jack and surrounded him. Calla frowned, she could tell they were taunting him. As an older boy with blonde hair shoved Jack, Calla dropped what was left of her coffee and ran over, Danny, right behind her.

"Hey!" Calla yelled. "What the hell is your problem?" The boy turned, shocked to see her running over. He was at least eleven or twelve. "You think picking on eight year olds is funny?"

"Who're you, his sister?" The boy asked with a sneer.

"For all you need to be concerned with, yes." Calla growled. "I am the person who will make your life hell if you touch him ever again."

"Hotchner, you need your sister to stick up for you?." The boy said with a smirk.

Calla chuckled, and in a flash reached over and yanked the boy over to her by his arm. Pulling him away from his friends, she whispered in his ear, so no one but him could hear her. "You little shit. If you come near him, so much as look at him, I will make you regret it. You keep your friends away from him. You think you're all tough and cool now cause your at the top of this school? We guess what, in a few months, you will be at the very bottom of mine; and I swear to you, I will make your life hell. I will end you. Got that?" The boy winced as Calla gripped his arm, looking down in embarrassment he nodded. "Say it out loud." Calla warned, tightening her grip on his arm.

"Yeah, fine sorry, we'll leave him alone."

"I will know if you don't. Remember that."

"Okay!"

"Calla..." Danny warned as he noticed a teacher heading over their way with Henry. A frown on her face. Calla released the boy and smiled perkily.

"Well gentlemen, have a wonderful Christmas break. Jack and I certainly will." Calla motioned for Jack to come over to her, and she wrapped her arm around him as the boys cleared out. "You okay?" Calla asked when they were gone. Jack just nodded. "Jack, come on, really?"

"Yeah. Thanks Calla." Jack said looking up at her with a smile, probably for the first time that day.

Calla beamed back at him and jokingly bumped her hip against him. "Anytime kiddo."

"Those kids are jerks Jack. Kids who bully other kids always are. I used to get it all the time." Danny said with a tight smile.

"Really? Why your cool."

Calla and Danny laughed from the pure look of shock on Jack's face. "Cause I like boys the way most boys like girls."

"Oh." Jack said looking a little confused. "So what?" He asked a moment later. Calla and Danny just smiled at him.

"Yeah, so what?" Calla laughed.

"Calla!" Henry yelled as he noticed the trio. Calla turned as the very bundled up four year old waddled as fast as he could over to them and lunged himself at Calla. "Hi!" He said cheerfully as she caught him.

"Hi Henry."

* * *

><p>Emily, JJ and Hotch pulled up to the school and caught sight of Calla and Danny running across the courtyard. Confused, the three profilers watched on as she shoved a boy. Emily frowned and was about to climb out of the car and yell at her once she caught sight of Jack in the middle. They sat in the car curiously as Calla spoke to the boys, then pulled the blonde one away from the group. All of them hesitated from getting out of the car. They couldn't hear what she was saying, but from the fierce look on her face – very reminiscent of Emily's – they had a pretty good idea. She released the boy and they all walked away, mumbling apologies to Jack. Hotch smiled at Emily as they saw Calla wrap her arm around Jack and joke around with him.<p>

"Come on." He said, releasing his seat belt and climbing out of the car. JJ grinned as she saw Henry waddling over to Calla.

"You got one hell of a kid Prentiss." JJ said with a smirk.

"Yeah, she terrorizes little boys, I'm real proud." Emily answered sarcastically.

"I saw talking, not terrorizing."

Emily just nodded as they went over to collect their kids. Secretly, she was proud that Calla stuck up for Jack. As they headed back to the car, Emily pinched her side playfully. "Mom!" Calla yelled. "What was that for?" Emily just shrugged and got into her car.


	30. Chapter 30

**I am pretty certain that there will be two chapters left. And they will cover Christmas. I might do a sequel or something within this universe sometime in the future, but I feel like this story is almost done. I'm pretty focused on my other one and lacking inspiration for this. Thank you so much for all of the feedback/ideas/etc. that you have given me. I've really enjoyed writing this story. Hope you enjoy:)**

Calla nervously smoothed down her shirt again as she looked around for Danny. Greyson Young had moved up his party up to two days before Christmas rather than New Years. Something about working around when his parents were out of town. Danny had convinced Calla that they needed to go or they would be social pariahs. Calla quickly reminded him that they already were so it really didn't matter, but it didn't deter Danny one little bit. On Danny's instructions, Calla had lied to Emily and said she was sleeping over at Danny's. Likewise, Julie was under the impression Danny would be sleeping at Calla's.

Calla was 99% sure they were going to get caught.

"Where _are_ we going to sleep?" She asked him as they walked down Greyson's street. "This stupid thing can't go all night!"

"We can crash at his house, I heard that's what most people are doing."

"What! Danny, no. I don't want to sleep there. Come on, this was a stupid idea."

"We never do anything interesting, teenagers are supposed to rebel somewhat."

"No they're not. Its not a rule or anything."

"It might as well be."

"Well then I am not a normal teenager, and you know what? I'm okay with that. I like hanging out with my mom, I like going to dance, I like watching tv and staying home. Why rock the boat?"

"Calla, I am determined to make you interesting."

"We're not even invited. How're we going to get in?"

"Well, by now I figure most of them are drunk, or at least buzzed, the party started almost an hour ago. They are making bad decisions and they might just let us in!"

"And if that doesn't work?"

"I lift you up into the bathroom window, then you pull me up and we pretend we've been there the whole time." Danny said seriously.

"We're gonna get arrested. Probably by my mom." Calla moaned.

"No, we're gonna have an awesome time, dance, act like morons, maybe try booze for the first time and enjoy the fact that we have almost 3 weeks off of school! Thank god we don't go to a public school, my cousin Tommy only gets eight days."

"I went to public school."

"And thankfully you have been removed from that atrocity."

"You know, the way you talk might be one of the reasons you don't have any friends besides me."

"That's rude."

"But true." Calla and Danny stared at each other for a minute before both breaking out into grins. Calla grabbed Danny's hand and bumped her hip against his. "Come on, let's go be rebellious."

"Yay!" Danny yelled excitedly.

Surprisingly, the two of them were allowed in the front door. Some junior that neither of them knew – and who in return had no idea who they were – answered the door and let them in. Calla was relieved, she had a feeling that climbing through the bathroom wouldn't end well.

* * *

><p>Emily had let JJ and Garcia drag her out of the house for the night. Since Calla was sleeping over at Danny's, Henry was having a boys night with Will and they had just gotten off a case, Garcia insisted on a girls night. Emily had a feeling that something was up with Calla however. She didn't become a profiler for nothing, Emily had almost called her out on it before the teenager left, but decided against it. She was regretting that decision now that the girls were two hours into their night.<p>

"She was lying." Emily stated.

"How do you know?" Garcia moaned for what felt like to her the millionth time. "Its totally wrong to profile your kid btw."

"Actually, its a very useful tool to use when parenting." Emily said sarcastically.

"Call her." JJ said.

"I..."

"Em, call her and be done with it so you can stop worrying and have fun."

"Fine." Emily stepped outside the crowed pub the girls had gone to to call her daughter. The phone rang almost eight times before Calla finally picked it up.

"Hello?"

Emily noticed music in the background. "Calla, how are you?" Emily asked.

"Fine Mom, how're you?" Calla asked a little annoyed.

"What are you and Danny doing?"

"Nothing."

"You dancing?"

"Umm...yeah."

"I hear lots of music."

"Yup." There was silence on the other end of the line for a minute or two before Calla spoke up again. "Mom, is something wrong?"

"No, just checking in. Anything you want to tell me?"

"No..."

"Okay, well goodnight, be good, love you."

"Love you too Mom, night."

Emily hung up the phone and went back into the club where her friends were.

"So, what's the verdict?" JJ asked.

"She is totally lying. She's not at Danny's, from the sounds of it, she was at a party."

"Teenagers go to parties Em."

"Yeah, but she lied to me Garcia. She said she was sleeping over at Danny's, she could have just asked."

"Want me to track her phone?" Garcia asked with a grin.

Emily laughed. "No...well...maybe." Garcia and JJ laughed. "Give her an hour, if she doesn't call me back, then maybe."

* * *

><p>"Danny, she knows." Calla said frantically.<p>

"Who knows? Knows what?" Danny asked not really paying attention. His gaze was focused much more on Thomas Miller dancing in the middle of the floor.

"My mom!" Calla stressed, grabbing his arm. "She knows!"

"I repeat knows what?"

"Danny, stop checking out his ass, he's straight! Listen to me!"

"Straight or not, I can still appreciate it."

"Danny!"

Finally, the boy turned his attention to Calla. He frowned. "Cal, why are you worried? We planed this perfectly, she's not gonna know."

"Danny, my mother profiles people's behavior for a living, she totally knows and I am going to be grounded for the rest of my life."

"If she knows, why didn't she say anything?"

"Probably to fill me with the terror of what she will do when I crack?"

"Do. Not. Crack." Danny said cupping Calla's face with his hands. "Calla, my happiness depends on you tonight. If you crack Emily will have to tell my mom, its like a law or something, moms stick together. Then _I _will be grounded."

"First things first, if I go down, you are totally going down with me, this whole thing was _your_ freaking idea!"

"That is just rude."

"We have to go home."

"Calla! Come on, lets stay a little longer at least." Danny begged. "If Thomas gets just a little drunker, he might dance with me!"

Calla sighed in frustration and mashed her lips together. "Fine. One hour. _One_. Danny I mean it."

"You are the best friend ever!" Danny said giving Calla a hug. "Now get lost so I can have my first real kiss."

"He's not gonna kiss you."

"Do not ruin my happiness Pierce. Go drink a little booze, dance with some boys."

Calla wandered off annoyed. She had decided that she hated parties almost the second they had walked through the front door. It was loud, almost all of the teenagers were incredibly stupid and no one seemed to be able to actually dance. Calla had zero interest in drinking. Three of her foster parents had been alcoholics and the idea of not having control over herself freaked her out. Two people bumped into her as she tried to find a place to be alone for a while. Looking at the dance floor, she smiled at Danny. At least someone was having a good time. She would suffer through another hour for Danny, but then she was done.

"Hey, who're you?" An older – very drunk – boy asked her.

"Megan." Calla said off handily.

"Hey Megan, I'm Craig."

"Hi." Calla said with a grimace as he leaned in closely. His breath reeked.

"Want a drink?"

"No thanks, I'm good."

"Wanna make out?"

Calla raised her eyebrows and frowned at him. "Seriously?" She asked in distain.

"Yeah!"

"No fucking way." Calla walked out of the kitchen and went to find Danny, the hour was up early.

* * *

><p>"She hasn't called back." Emily said as the three women left the pub.<p>

"So call her." JJ told her.

"I...if she hasn't called by the time I get home I will."

"Okay, night Em. Call if you need me to trace a cell or spy in any other way on your adorable mini me." Garcia said wrapping Emily up into a hug. Emily climbed into her car – she hadn't actually had anything to drink – and drove home. Her phone still hadn't received a call and she was growing anxious. Just as she was about to call Calla and yell at her, her teenager walked through the door, clearly not expecting to see her mother.

"Mom...hi." Calla mumbled.

Emily frowned at her daughter and waited for her to speak up again. When she didn't, only began taking off her coat and gloves, Emily gave in. "Where's Danny? I thought you were staying with him? Its three am."

"We uhh had a fight. I wanted to come home."

"Okay." Emily said, not believing one word, and knowing Calla knew that. Emily watched as Calla shifted awkwardly from one foot to another.

"Can I go to bed?" Calla asked after a moment.

"Sure, give me a hug." Emily opened her arms as the teenager tentatively walked into them. She smelled like alcohol, but it wasn't on her breath, so she hadn't been drinking. Emily had been right, the teenager had lied and gone to a party. She was proud that she at least hadn't drank anything, but she would be lying if she said that Calla lying to her didn't bother her.

"Night Mom." Calla said as she practically ran upstairs. Emily sighed and followed her, climbing into her own bed. She would give Calla time to come forward. Emily figured the girl would crack sometime over the next few days, but apparently, it would only take minutes. Emily heard the floorboards creak and then a small knock on her door. "Mom?" Calla whispered.

"Come in." Emily called out. Calla tentatively opened the door and hesitated, fiddling with her t-shirt as she stood at the floor. Emily sat up in her bed and turned the lamp on, waiting. "Sweetie?" She asked a minute later.

"I went to a party tonight, I wasn't at Danny's." Calla yelled out quickly.

Emily smiled. "I know."

"I thought so." Calla moaned and looked down in shame. Emily gave a light chuckle and waited. "I didn't drink." Calla stressed.

"I know that too."

Calla bit her lip – so much like Emily – and she smiled despite the fact that she was supposed to be angry with her kid.

"I'm sorry. It wasn't fun at all and I never want to go to one again."

Emily laughed and motioned for Calla to come over to her. Calla sat down on the edge of Emily's bed and refused to meet her mother in the eye. "You could have just asked." Emily told her softly.

"I'm sorry. Danny thought you'd say no."

"From now on, no more lying, you have to earn my trust Cal."

Calla nodded. "Am I grounded?"

Emily puckered her lips while she pondered Calla's question. On the one hand, she did want to ground the girl, if only to make a point. But on the other hand, in two days it would be Christmas, and that was all kinds of cruel. Calla had come forward and confessed, which in Emily's mind was pretty brave, and she could tell that her daughter really had no fun. "I'll tell you what, yes you are grounded. Tomorrow and Friday, no phone, no computer, no tv and you have to do whatever I say, no complaining."

"That's it?"

"That's it." Emily said with a nod. Calla let out a sigh of relief and Emily just smiled. "Now, get to bed, you're not gonna be allowed to sleep in tomorrow. That is a luxury for good, not grounded children."

Calla groaned as she stalked out of Emily's room. Emily turned off the lamp as Calla made quite a bit of noise stomping off to her bedroom. Motherhood was definitely interesting. That was for sure.


	31. Chapter 31

**Thank you guys so much for all your feedback, I hope you all have wonderful holidays. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy plain old December:) Enjoy, I had a bit of fun with this one. **

Emily slept in for once. Taking full advantage of the fact that it was Christmas Eve and she had nowhere to be until six. Calla had taken her grounding – mostly – in stride; only complaining once that she was bored. To keep her occupied, JJ volunteered Calla to babysit for Henry while she and Emily finished some last minute shopping with Garcia. Will had to work right up until Christmas Eve, and the two profilers figured it would be a fitting punishment. Margie was right next door if Calla had any problems, but Emily knew they wouldn't. Calla was responsible and she loved Henry. The teenager practically jumped at the idea of something to do and Emily said Henry could watch tv, therefore Calla could watch whatever he picked.

"What _he_ picks Calla." Emily stressed.

"I know Mom."

Emily paused, giving her daughter a look that clearly meant to tread lightly then kissed the top of her head. "You can use the house phone if you need to call either of us, the phone numbers are on speed dial. Do not go looking for your cell phone, do not call Danny, he is grounded as well. Make sure you guys get something to eat, there is leftover pasta in the fridge, if you need _anything_, get Margie or call one of us. We should be back in a few hours. I'll call to check in later okay?"

Calla nodded, eager to get her mother out of her hair. JJ gave Henry one last hug and came over to the two brunettes. "My kid better be in one piece when I get back." She warned Calla with a smile.

"He will." Calla whined. "Just leave."

Emily and JJ laughed and donned their winter apparel. JJ bent over and ruffled Calla's hair. "Have fun." The two women headed outside and climbed into JJ's car. "He is gonna eat her alive." JJ said with a devilish grin as she started the car and pulled out. "He's been hyper all morning. I'll bet you twenty bucks when we get home she'll be begging for sleep."

Emily laughed. "As long as they aren't hurt, fine by me."

The women made a pit stop to pick up Garcia and then some much needed coffee. Their shopping was really mostly done, they just wanted to enjoy one of the rare days off they had. Rather than heading to the craziness that was the mall, JJ went downtown to some of the odd mom and pop shops. The trio parked in a lot and took to the streets, each bundled up and enjoying their time together.

* * *

><p>The second Calla closed the door she turned around and grinned at Henry. "No grown ups." She said to the bubbling blonde boy.<p>

"Yay!" He cheered and began running around in circles pumping his fists into the air. "Lets play Neverland!"

"What's that?" Calla asked.

Henry stopped dead in his tracks and look at Calla like she had spontaneously grown nine heads. "You don't know who Peter Pan is?" He asked, appalled.

"Yes I do." Calla protested. "I was asking how you play Neverland."

"We need swords!" Henry yelled jumping up and down in excitement.

"I doubt Emily has any swords."

"We make them at home."

"With what?"

"Do you have the tube from towels?"

"Huh?" Calla asked. Henry, unable to convey the word he was thinking of, stomped into the kitchen looking for it. Being a four year old, he couldn't quite see up above the counters. Taking matters into his own hands, he walked back to Calla, grabbed her hand and dragged her into the kitchen. Standing her in the middle, he held out his arms to be picked up. Calla huffed a little, but complied. Henry, now at a much better angle began looking around the kitchen.

"There!" He yelled as he saw the paper towels.

"Oh, the cardboard part?" Calla asked. Henry nodded excitedly.

"Daddy n' me tape two together. And make em' tough with duck tape!"

Calla frowned. "Wouldn't you rather watch a movie?" She asked hopefully. Henry vehemently shook his head and kicked his legs out in protest. Calla sighed and set him down. "I'm not sure if we still have the old ones. We might have to find something else for a sword." Henry pouted and Calla glared at him a little. "Henry, I'll look, but we might have to find something else okay?" Henry huffed and crossed his arms, but nodded. Calla dug through the cupboards under the island. Emily usually left the recycling bin there and it was her best bet. Thanking the universe, God, Allah, Buddha, whoever, Calla cheered when she found three rolls left in the bin.

"We need four!" Henry yelled.

"Well, that one's still being used."

"Just take the towels off." Henry answered her, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Calla looked at the paper towels, there wasn't really that much left. Calla decided placating the four year old was more important now than the fallout later and got busy unwrapping the towels. Henry stood impatiently waiting and she threw the three rolls to him.

"Henry, under that cupboard is duck tape and markers, grab it okay?" Calla asked. Henry nodded and ran to get the supplies happy to be given a task. Almost forty minutes later, each child had their very own cardboard and duck tape sword. Henry's blue and Calla's green. They were surprisingly durable, Calla had loaded on the duck tape in fear of tantrums if the four year olds sword broke. "Okay, we've got swords, how to we play?"

"We're rescuing Tinkerbell from the pirates!" Henry yelled and jumped down out of his seat. "Wait! We need costumes!"

Calla groaned. "Costumes?"

"Like Peter! Twigs and leaves and stuff."

"Henry its winter, there aren't any twigs and leaves and stuff."

Henry frowned, but stood in place trying to come up with something else. "Wendy, Michael and John were in their pjs! We can do that!"

"There aren't and pjs that will fit you here."

Henry stamped his foot slightly in frustration and Calla had to bite back a laugh. Henry huffed and crossed his arms. He glared at Calla and stomped over to her, wriggling his finger, he motioned for her to bend down to his level. "We have to be pirates then." He whispered fiercely.

"So we're gonna be the bad guys? Or are we good pirates?"

"We're good guys pretending to be bad guys to steel back Tink!"

"Oh, okay sounds good. Let's find pirate clothes." Calla led Henry upstairs and the two dug through Calla's clothes looking for anything pirate like. Luckily, Calla kept most of her old dance costumes and Henry didn't really seem to care as long as he had a costume on. An old white blouse thing Calla had worn for ballet when she was eight was pulled on over Henry and tied back with a scarf as a belt. Calla shoved his sweatpants up to his calfs and pulled his socks up to look like pirate pants. A thick black hair ribbon was used as an eye patch, and with some eye liner she painted on some moles a curly mustache, and blacked out a few teeth. She checked the label to make sure it wasn't poisonous if digested and they were apparently good to go. The duo went into Emily's bedroom in search of some sort of bandana, Calla remembered seeing an FBI one and found it happily. She tied it around Henry's head and stood back to admire her work. He didn't look half bad.

"Now you!" Henry yelled.

Calla looked through her mother's closet and found a big white blouse, she pulled it on and mimicked Henry's use of a belt with a bright green scarf. Going back to her bedroom, she pulled on some sweats, and high socks she sometimes wore to dance. She pulled her hair back into a short ponytail and found black beanie hat. Tying one of her smaller scarves around it, it served as her pirate hat. Calla blacked out a couple of her own teeth, but refused to give herself moles or a mustache despite Henry's protests.

"Ready?" She asked the boy. There whole endeavor so far had taken almost over two hours.

"Yeah!" Henry cheered. "Let's get 'em!" Calla chased Henry downstairs and the two began a sword fight to the death. Calla forgot to act like she was too old or too cool to play games. She was getting into it just as much as Henry.

* * *

><p>"People are crazy." Emily stated as they watched two women physically fight over a doll. Leaving the store, JJ and Garcia clearly agreed with her. It was now dark and the three women had been shopping for almost five hours straight. They were spent and hungry. Trudging back to where they had parked the car, they happily drove home. On Emily's insistence, they stopped for take out – enough pizza to feed the entire team and then some – and headed home. Garcia and JJ left their bags in her car as they trio made their way up to Emily's apartment. They paused and looked at each other hearing squeals at the other side of the door. "That can't be good." Emily mumbled. She opened the door and handed Garcia the pizza box.<p>

All three women gasped at the sight of Emily's apartment. There were blankets, pillows, Henry's toys and everything imaginable strewn all over the floor. Some sort of blanket fort appeared to be above the couch and another one over the kitchen island.

"Calla Lily Pierce!" Emily yelled. The women were only met with more squeals – clearly of laughter – and then Calla and Henry ran into sight. Neither kid seemed to be aware of the three women standing by the door. Emily frowned as she watched the two bang cardboard swords together and yell. Emily turned to JJ and shared a confused look as their children ran to the couch and hid under it yelling something about pirates and fairies. "Calla!" Emily yelled again. This time, the teenager popped up from behind the couch and looked on horrified at the three women.

"Uhh...hi." She said. "He's in one piece." The teenager pointed down to Henry as he jumped up next to her.

"MOMMY!" The little boy yelled and took off running. His beloved sword abandoned, he lunged himself into his mother's arms. "We're playing Neverland! Calla made great swords and we didn't have twigs so we are undercover. The pirates think we're bad guys on their side, but we're really good guys! We saved Tink twice! And Calla died once, but I clapped and she came back to life!" JJ listened intently as her son quickly retold every single event that had occurred while she was gone with a smile on her face. Calla sheepishly walked over to the group and tried to take her hat off. Garcia stopped her and told Henry to go pose with Calla for pictures.

"Oh...no.." Calla began to protest. Emily shoved her forward with a mischievous grin. Calla begrudgingly posed with Henry after making Garcia promise to hide the pictures later. Garcia winked at JJ and Emily, clearly having no such intention. She took one with the swords, one on on their 'pirate ship', one of them in their 'tree fort' and another one with their very amused mothers. Emily didn't even want to think about the state of her house, so she simply ducked under the tree fort in the kitchen and pulled out plates. The group all dug in hungrily and Emily vowed that Calla would spend all of her last day of grounding cleaning up her apartment tomorrow.

* * *

><p>When Emily finally did wake up Christmas Eve, it was well after noon. Stretching, she snuggled back into the warm covers, not wanting to get out of bed. A soft knock on the door caused her to look up. "Come in." She yelled out. Calla tentatively opened the door, two mugs in her hands. "Oh you beautiful child, is that coffee?" Emily asked.<p>

Calla grinned and walked over to her mother. "Yup. I made pancakes too, but that was two hours ago and they're cold."

"That's fine." Emily said happily sitting up and taking the piping hot beverage. Calla placed her mug on Emily's nightstand and ran out of the room, yelling she was heating up the pancakes and not to move. Emily was all to happy to comply. "I should've gotten a kid years ago, breakfast in bed?" Emily muttered to herself. Minutes later Calla came running up the stairs with a plate full of pancakes covered in confectioner sugar.

"We don't have any syrup." She explained. Calla handed the plate to her mother and crawled into the bed, sitting beside her. "I'm not grounded anymore right?" Calla asked hopefully. Emily nodded and stuffed a piece of pancake in her mouth. "Good, Merry Christmas Eve! Can we watch tv? There are a bunch of Christmas specials on."

"Sure."Emily said with her mouth full. She placed the plate between them and turned the tv in her room on. Mother and daughter sat happily sipping their coffee, eating their pancakes and watching Christmas specials for the rest of the afternoon.

Around 4:30 Emily's phone rang and she climbed out of bed to answer it. "Cal, go shower, we've got to leave for Rossi's in an hour, it will take twenty minutes at least to get there, maybe more depending on the snow." Calla hopped out of Emily's bed and ran down the hall to her bathroom. "Hello?" Emily answered the phone.

"Emily? Its Dianne Jennings."

"Oh, hi, uh, happy holidays." Emily said running her fingers through her hair nervously. She liked the woman a lot, but she always made the normally controlled profiler nervous.

"I've got a Christmas present for you." Dianne said. Emily could almost hear the smile on the woman's face.

"Sorry?" She asked.

"As of six minutes ago, Calla is officially your daughter. Calla Lily Prentiss, legally and fully. I'm faxing the copies of the documents to you as we speak."

"What!" Emily gasped. "But...but I thought nothing could be final until after the new year?"

"I pulled a few strings. She's is all yours. Merry Christmas, it has truly been a pleasure."

"Are you serious?" Emily asked.

"Have a wonderful life with her Emily."

"Thank you, so much...I...I don't know what to say." Emily answered truthfully.

"Say you'll take care of her, say you'll be happy."

"Oh god I will." Emily almost yelled. Dianne laughed on the other end of the line. Emily was practically jumping up and down with excitement.

"Merry Christmas Emily."


	32. Chapter 32

**And here it is, the final installment. I have really enjoyed writing this story and I hope you have enjoyed reading it. Happy holidays everyone:) and thank you for sticking with me. **

Emily hadn't moved from her seat in at least ten minutes. She sat clutching the phone in her hand, staring at the wall. Footsteps came up behind her and Calla stood in the doorway with her arms crossed. "You tell me to hurry and get ready and you don't even move?" Calla said with a laugh. Emily didn't react. "Mom? Are you okay? Shit, you don't have a case do you?"

"Don't swear." Emily scolded automatically. "And no, no case." Emily finally turned to look at Calla and she lit up all over again. Calla cocked her head to the side, confused at her mother's odd behavior. Emily stood up, and without a word lunged forward and wrapped Calla up into a tight hug.

"Mom!" Calla protested. "You're freaking me out."

Emily laughed and gently pushed Calla back, holding onto her shoulders. "I got a phone call from Dianne a couple of minutes ago."

"Why? Is something wrong? Do I have to leave? I'm sorry I went to that party, but I didn't drink! I swear to god, I'll take on of those poly-whatever tests! We can prove it to her!" Calla began rambling frantically. Emily just laughed and hugged her again.

"No, its nothing bad. Its great in fact."

"What?"

"The adoption is official." Emily beamed. "You're stuck with me for life kid."

Calla opened her mouth in shock and stared up at Emily. "Are you serious?" She asked with wide eyes. Emily nodded her head excitedly. "Like for real? Like legally and everything!" Emily nodded again. "OH MY GOD!" Calla screamed, jumping up and down and clutching her mother. Emily laughed and hugged her back tightly. "This is the best Christmas present ever!" Calla yelled happily after the two of them had calmed down slightly. She glanced over at the clock. "Mom we're gonna be way late."

"Oh crap, let me jump in the shower, you get the presents packed into the car and I'll be done in ten minutes tops."

"Okay." Calla said running down the stairs. Emily quickly pealed off her pjs and jumped into the shower. She had perfected extremely quick showers years ago and was out within three minutes. Dressing herself in a red sweater and some nice black jeans, she brushed and blow dried her hair quickly, jammed on some boots and ran downstairs to meet her daughter. "Every thing's in the car." Calla announced.

"Great, coat, scarf and gloves, who knows if we'll go outside or not."

Emily and Calla bundled up and quickly headed down to the car. Calla had already brushed off all the snow and started it to keep it warm. Emily kissed her rosy cheek in thanks and pulled out onto the street, heading out to Rossi's. Luckily, the roads we're pretty clear, it wasn't snowing right now, the traffic was abundant, but it moved pretty quickly. The duo arrived a little later than they wanted, but only by about twelve minutes.

"Finally!" Rossi exclaimed, feigning annoyance as he opened the door for them. "You're the last one's here, everyone's ready to eat."

"Sorry, we got a little held up..." Emily began.

"I'm legally adopted!" Calla said happily as she shucked her coat and handed it to Rossi's waiting hands. His mouth dropped open in shock and he turned to Emily for confirmation. She nodded happily and handed over her coat as well.

"I wanted to tell everyone at the same time..." Emily said giving Calla a joking glare and bumped her hip.

"My lips are sealed, announce away, it'll save you from Morgan complaining about his hunger." Rossi said as he lead them into the living room. The entire team plus, Will, Henry, Jack and Kevin were sitting in every chair and couch available by the fireplace. A huge tree was decked out by the window with plenty of presents underneath. Rossi deposited Emily and Calla's under there as well while he yelled out they were here.

"Calla!" Henry yelled as he got up off of the floor, abandoned his game with Jack and jumped up into her arms.

"Finally!" Morgan groaned. "Let's eat! Princess, what took you so long?"

Emily glanced over at Calla, who had set Henry down and smiled. "Well, I got a phone call as we were getting ready to leave."

"Yeah, and?" Morgan asked, impatiently. Garcia smacked him.

"And, I would like to introduce you all to Calla Lily _Prentiss_." Emily stressed the last name and beamed at her friends.

"Princess, we've met." Morgan said, not quite getting what Emily was saying. Garcia, Hotch, JJ and Will understood however and the room was instantly filled with Garcia and JJ's sequels of excitement. Both blondes leapt up off of their chairs and ran over to the two brunette's hugging them both. "Wait, what?" Morgan asked, beginning to understand. "Is she legally yours now?"

"Yes, its all official." Emily said as Garcia clung to her tightly.

"Congratulations!" Reid said getting up to hug them as well. Emily and Calla were hugged by everyone at least once, and Garcia about three or four times each before Rossi reminded Morgan how hungry he was. Morgan, once he hugged Emily again, hoisted Henry into the air and bolted into the kitchen to sit down. The team followed him, all still offering their congratulations as they seated themselves. Rossi got busy placing the food on the table, while JJ held Emily back slightly.

"Em, how do you feel?" She asked with a bright smile.

"Really freaking happy." Emily answered her with a laugh. Both women looked into the kitchen at their children sitting next to each other. Henry was whispering something into Calla's ear and she was giggling, then relaying it to Jack, who told Garcia. It appeared to be a game of telephone. "I still can't quite wrap my head around it." She admitted.

"I've had him four years, sometimes I still can't wrap my head around it. Parenthood is weird."

Emily laughed and wrapped an arm around JJ as the two made their way over to the table. Emily slid in next to Calla and smiled as everyone dug in happily. The table was loud and joyful, plates being passed around, joke being made, everyone enjoying themselves. Everyone ate until they were completely stuffed and Rossi still had desert for later. Henry and Jack got bored sitting at the table and talking, so both boys abandoned the grown ups to return to their game of battleship. Calla felt slightly out of place with the adults, but she had no real interest in watching the boys play a board game.

"Mr. Rossi, where's your bathroom?" She asked after a moment or two.

"Down the hall to the left, and I've told you like fifty times, call me Dave."

"Sorry." Calla said with a smile as she stood up and headed down the hall.

"She's really yours?" Hotch asked, giving Emily one of his rare smiles.

"Yeah, Dianne called almost two hours ago. She had said that nothing could be finalized until after the new year, but she pulled some strings. I still can't really believe it, I mean in a way, nothing feels different, but in another way..." Emily trailed off.

"Does your mother know?" Morgan asked.

"I called her before we got here." Emily said.

"And how did that go?" JJ asked with a smile.

"Umm...it felt like I entered the Twilight Zone." Emily said with a laugh.

_Emily could hear Calla getting ready down the hall. She sat down and dialed the phone still in her hand. She might as well get it over with now, Elizabeth Prentiss would find out one way or another, and Emily would get hell if it wasn't from her. _

"_Hello?" Elizabeth's sharp voice penetrated the line. _

"_Merry Christmas Mother." Emily said as she bit her lip. _

_Elizabeth sighed. "Merry Christmas Dear, will your father and I be seeing you for dinner tomorrow?" _

"_No, Calla and I are staying here. I'm not subjecting her to that again." _

"_Ah, the impolite girl is still with you?" _

"_Mother, she is legally mine as of now. Wether you like it or not, she is biologically and legally your granddaughter and I love her. When you see her in the future, you will be polite and treat her with respect or you won't see either of us. I hope you and father have a Merry Christmas, maybe I'll see you around New Years." _

"_Emily?" _

"_Yes?" Emily said, licking her lips and preparing herself for whatever her mother had to say. The line was silent for a moment, and Emily almost started to say goodbye when Elizabeth finally spoke up. _

"_I am aware that I was never the best mother, I don't think some people are built for it. There isn't anything I can really say but...I'm sorry. I should have listened to you fifteen years ago, I am aware that it is my fault you missed her childhood. She's a strong, intelligent young woman and she clearly loves you...I hope the two of you have the relationship I wish I could have had with you. I'm proud of you." _

_Emily sat, completely shocked in her chair. She had absolutely no idea what to say. Her mother had never in her life said anything like that to her before. She had never heard Elizabeth admit any sort of wrongdoing ever. "Mother I..."_

"_I'm aware this is out of character, but I mean it. I will behave, or at least try, with the both of you. I wish you both a Merry Christmas Emily."_

"_Mother..."_

"_I may not have been able to show it properly, and I may not have been suited to be a mother, but I did love you. I still do." _

"_I...I love you too. Merry Christmas." Emily responded, shocked at this turn of events. She sat still, unmoving until she heard Calla walking down the hall. _

"She said all that?" JJ asked, shocked. Emily had only told JJ – and bits to Garcia – everything that happened on Thanksgiving.

"Yeah, I still think maybe I was dreaming or something. It was the single oddest moment of my life. I have no idea where she'll go with it, but it was nice to hear I guess."

The group moved back into the living room to sit more comfortably. The boys got bored with their game, and they turned on the tv and let them watch the animated _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_. Henry insisted Calla come sit on the floor and watch it with them, and Garcia made sure to take lots of pictures when the three of them weren't looking. By the end of the movie, Jack and Henry were eyeing the presents underneath the tree.

"What did you ask Santa for Jack?" Henry whispered as the three of them huddled near the corner.

"Well...I dunno if I believe in him anymore. A bunch of kids at school said he's not real."

"What!" Henry asked, looking horrified. He glanced quickly back and forth between Calla and Jack, growing more and more distressed every time. "HE IS TOO REAL!" Henry finally yelled, getting the attention of most of the adults in the room. Jack and Calla wore guilty looks on their faces as Henry jumped up and ran to his mother. "Mommy, Santa is real right?"

Emily glared at Calla, praying her kid had not just ruined a four year old's Christmas. Calla immediately pointed to Jack, who pouted and crossed his arms at her lack of loyalty. Emily then softened her look, while Hotch gave Jack a glare of his own.

"I didn't say he wasn't real." Jack protested. "I said some kids at school said that and that I didn't know!"

Henry, still in complete distress began pulling JJ's shirt. "Jack's friends are wrong right?" He looked back and forth between his mother and father. "RIGHT!"

"Yes, Henry, Jack's friends are wrong." Will drawled. "Santa's as real as me."

"Really?" Jack asked as he stood up and walked over to his father. Hotch nodded and ruffled his hair. Henry, perfectly satisfied with his parents answers sighed with relief and flopped himself back onto his mother. Jack, still a little suspicious, began to question his father. "But how does he do it all in one night?"

"Magic."

"Can he stop time?"

"Probably."

"Calla, do you believe in Santa?" Jack asked innocently. All of the adults held their breath as Jack – and Henry – turned to look at Calla. Emily bit her bottom lip and gave her a warning look.

"Yeah, of course I do. I was gonna say that before Henry freaked out." She said matter of fact. Henry stuck his tongue out at Calla, but otherwise was perfectly content. Jack seemed to take Calla's declaration of the reality of Santa much more to heart than his father's and nodded. Emily smiled at Calla and mouthed, 'thank you'.

"Can we open those presents now?" Henry asked excitedly.

"Sure." JJ said after looking to Rossi for confirmation. "How about you three separate all of them and pass them out?"

Henry leapt off his mother's lap and ran back over to Calla, Jack following behind. As Henry couldn't actually read much besides his own name and a few others, he needed quite a bit of help. Calla was designated as reading the name to him, then he ran and delivered it to its owner. Jack did a bit of both, excited, but not with quite as much enthusiasm as Henry. It took almost twenty minutes to get everyone their presents. The team had done a secret santa, including Jack, Henry, Calla, Kevin and Will. Garcia had been in charge, which meant that she rigged the game to ensure she got Morgan for herself. Henry, Jack and Reid, tore through their presents excitedly. Calla laughed as Reid couldn't get threw all of the tape on his – Morgan had gone through an entire roll just to bother him.

Henry got three little toy trucks from Hotch – which he immediately began playing with – Jack got a Buzz Lightyear toy from Emily, Reid got a couple of logo t-shirts that said things like, 'ladies dig magic' and a few other annoying nerdy references. He gave Morgan his signature frowny smile while Calla laughed. Morgan was given things entirely inappropriate for him to continue opening with three curious children in the room. JJ got some earrings from Rossi, Will, a football from Kevin, in return – Kevin had gotten new slip to hold his laptop from Will – Hotch, a new watch from Reid, Garcia, a pink fluffy tutu like skirt from JJ, and Rossi, an italian cookbook from Calla. Emily, received a decorated photo album full of new photographs with Calla, Emily and the team from Henry – which was really from JJ. And Calla was given six candy necklaces, and a real silver necklace with little ballet shoes from Jack.

The group spent the rest of the evening, playing with their newfound toys, talking, and resting. Rossi brought out the desert sometime before Henry and Jack passed out and it was possibly the most delicious chocolate mouse any of them had ever consumed. By a little after eleven, the boys were out cold and everyone was ready to call it a night. Hugs were given all around as the group bundled up and headed out to their cars. While Emily and Will were out starting the cars and buckling Henry into his seat, JJ caught Calla's attention.

"Hey Prentiss." She said, bumping Calla with her hip. Calla beamed and moved in to hug JJ as the blonde opened her arms. "Merry Christmas kiddo." JJ whispered, placed a kiss on Calla's head.

"Merry Christmas JJ." Calla whispered back.

The two parted with smiles and headed outside, JJ waving goodbye to Emily as Calla hopped into the car.

"You ready?" Emily asked. "Got everything?"

"Yup."

As Emily pulled out and followed behind Morgan's car, it began to snow lightly. "Mom!" Calla pointed in excitement. "Snow!"

"I told you it would." Emily said with a smile, keeping her eyes on the road. Calla leaned back in her seat contently and sighed.

"This was probably the best Christmas I've ever had." She said softly.

"Its not over, this was just Christmas Eve." Emily reminded her. There were lots of presents waiting to be put under the tree stashed in Emily's room. She may have pulled a Garcia and gone a little overboard. She didn't want to spoil Calla, but she wanted to make their first Christmas together a good one. Calla grinned at Emily.

"What are we doing tomorrow?" She asked, giddy with excitement.

"Sleeping in." Emily warned. Calla grinned mischievously. "No, Calla I mean it. Sleeping in, then we can open presents, stay in our pjs, laze around and watch Christmas movies and eat chocolate to our hearts content."

"We did that today!"Calla exclaimed.

"We didn't eat any chocolate or open presents." Emily reminded her.

Calla shook her head at her mother. "Do you know how to ice skate?" She asked after a moment.

"Yes I do."

"Can you teach me tomorrow?"

"Sure, but we're still sleeping in." Emily said seriously. Calla laughed.

"Fine, we can sleep in." Calla said with a huff. Emily pulled the car into the garage and turned it off, the two look a like brunettes hopped out and began to head inside. Not before Emily picked up some snow and hurled it at an unsuspecting Calla. The teenager shrieked, and retaliated with glee before Emily full on tackled her into the snow. "I give up! I give up!" Calla yelled as she tried to wriggle out of her mother's grasp.

Emily stood up and held her hand out for Calla. She hauled the teenager up and they went into the house. Shedding their many layers, they headed upstairs to put on some dry pjs. Emily had just come out of the bathroom when Calla lunged at her and hugged her tightly. "Merry Christmas Mom." She whispered. "I love you."

Emily beamed and placed a kiss on Calla's head. "I love you too kiddo." She whispered back. The two stayed like that for a moment, neither really wanting to let the other go just yet. After a minute, Calla released her mother, gave her a peck on the cheek, yelled Merry Christmas at the top of her lungs, and ran back to her bedroom. Emily just shook her head and climbed into her own bed after shutting out the light. Life with Calla was certainly never going to be boring. As Emily's head hit the pillow, she couldn't believe just how much her life had changed in the last few months. She had been virtually dead to the world – almost literally – only a little over a year ago. Now, she had all of her friends back, her mother had admitted she loved and was proud of Emily, and she had her daughter. As Emily began to fall asleep, she realized that for the first time in a long time, she was truly happy.


End file.
